Earth's Protectors IV
by nld200xy
Summary: Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Drizzile all wanted nothing more than revenge on the world that wronged them. But after suffering defeat at the hands of three heroes, they realize that there might just be a new calling for them.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: First off, the usual. I do not own the Pokemon franchise or any of the species featured in this story. It is also worth note that, as the title suggests, this is a new instalment in an on-going series. Luckily, you do not have to have read the first three (Or rather four since the first one was split up into two parts) to understand this, but it might be nice to check those out at some point anyway. I don't expect you to since they are really long, but the option's always there. Now, those who have at least read through the third one probably remember that I said I was planning on making that the last official entry in this series. Keep in mind I did also say I wasn't going to hold myself to that as I have changed my mind about continuing this series twice in the past, and ever since Sword and Shield's lineup was announced, I've been coming up with all sorts of ideas for this as of late. Also, this is heavily inspired by Kinnikuman with certain Pokemon designs being altered to fit the theme.

It was late in the evening in the city of Edmonton. Three wrestling rings had been set up in Commonwealth Stadium and the majority of the citizens had shown up for an incredible event. Various cheers and cries could be heard from the bleachers as three matches were going on right now.

But these were not ordinary bouts, for the six wrestlers fighting today were not human. They were creatures whose ancestors moved to Earth from various different planets ages ago. Unlike humans, they had special abilities that made their fights much more entertaining and epic. And those taking place today were no exception.

In one ring, a white rabbit with orange and yellow markings on her ears, toes and neck and a yellow band-aid over her nose was face-to-face with a bright blue fox with the tail of a fish. She had a white fin circling her neck, a dorsal fin on her skull and a pectoral fin on each cheek. The rabbit's name was Scorbunny and the fox was Vaporeon.

Currently, Scorbunny seemed to have given Vaporeon a true run for her money as she bounced off the rope and twirled around, landing a hard roundhouse to her cheek. The crowd gasped as the fox flew backward into the turnbuckle, grunting from the pain. All the while, a young woman sat behind a desk and exclaimed, "And Scorbunny lands a powerful roundhouse! Let's see if Vaporeon can turn this around! But what's going on in ring B?"

While the announcer continued, everyone turned their attention to the second ring where a blue chameleon with green hands, feet and eyelids along with blue and purple locks of hair covering one eye was dealing a series of palm punches to his opponent's chest. The opponent in question was a tall buff tiger with red and black fur covering his head, arms and lower body. His torso had grey fur with black markings that resembled a fish bone in the middle. With a belt made of hardened flames, this was Incineroar, and the one delivering blows to him was Drizzile.

After a few seconds, many were focused on the third ring where a black and grey gorilla with an orange snout, wrist bands made of leaves and long spiked hair made from similar materials had just slammed her opponent into the mat with a piledriver. The other fighter was actually a teenaged human boy with red hair and fairly toned muscles due to him having spent his life training to match the power of such beings. He was currently wearing a traditional blue wrestling outfit and his name was Ben, his opponent known as Rillaboom.

Back in the first ring, Scorbunny leapt backward into the ropes again, causing them to stretch backward as she exclaimed, "You were an adequate warmup, but this match is mine!" But just as she leapt forward with her feet out and ready to land another kick, Vaporeon smirked and leapt into the air.

She then spun like a wheel and covered the tip of her tail in water. She managed to somehow lower the temperature thus causing the liquid to harden until it was a solid ice in the shape of a ball. Scorbunny could only gawk at this for a few seconds before the ice made contact with her gut, causing her to cough up blood while Vaporeon spat, "BOUNCING ICE BALL!"

As the name suggested, she immediately propelled herself away from the rabbit and landed behind her. She took a few deep breaths and turned around, and sure enough, her opponent had been knocked unconscious.

Meanwhile, in the second ring, things had taken an unexpected turn for Drizzile when Incineroar smirked and grunted, "Do you seriously think those weak slaps are actually hurting me?"

The chameleon tensed up as the tiger lifted him up by his shoulder and swung him around, allowing him to fly into the ropes before bouncing back. Incineroar them spread out his arms and engulfed them in flames, spinning and shouting, "DARKEST LARIAT!" ramming one arm into Drizzile's neck once he was close enough.

The chameleon's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets while he coughed up a bit of phloem and collapsed onto the mat. And sure enough, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, making it clear to everyone that he was out cold.

But by far the most humiliating was in the third ring where Ben had not only recovered from his blow to the head after being released but had also grabbed Rillaboom's ankle while she posed for the crowd with her back turned to him. Her eyes widened when she looked down and noticed this. But before she could respond, the boy flipped himself upside down and latched his legs onto her massive one. He then used all his might to pull back and cause her to fall forward. Her chin hit the canvas hard while Ben twisted her leg, shouting, "TORCH FAMILY SPECIAL!"

After a minute of struggling, the boy even using his teeth to bite her toes and pull on them, Rillaboom groaned, "Please, let me go. I give up," slapping her hand against the canvas.

And with that, the announcer rang the bell and exclaimed, "And on that note, all three matches have come to a close! Vaporeon and her friends have saved Edmonton from evil's reign!" the stadium erupting with cheers and applause.

Shortly after all three matches ended, Scorbunny and Drizzile were loaded up into the back of a spaceship with a police logo on it. Rillaboom simply allowed them to cuff her since she knew better than to try and escape with three heroes present.

As it so happened, this was a common thing. Not only were the matches themselves not particularly normal, but a lot of time, they were good versus evil struggles with superheroes facing off against super villains. It was a rather odd way to resolve such conflicts, but it was also a time-honoured tradition that no one dared break.

While the three villains were taken away, Vaporeon let out a sigh and said, "That felt really good," turning to Incineroar and Ben, adding, "Thanks for coming all this way to help. I know it must have been tough."

"Hey, anything for a friend," Ben replied with a grin, "I'm sure you didn't really need our help, but we had to even the playing field," Incineroar smirking and adding, "Just call me anytime you need someone to bail you out."

With that, all three friends pounded their fists together before Ben sighed, "Guess I should probably head back to Tokyo now. I feel awful leaving Wurmple all alone to look after it."

"Yeah, and poor Rockruff is probably worried about me," Incineroar replied with a smirk, "Not that she has any reason to be," flexing his muscles as Vaporeon giggled, "I'm sure she's more worried about your opponent."

As it so happened, out of the three, only Vaporeon lived in Edmonton, and she had not even grown up there. During times of crisis, hundreds of teenaged heroes were brought to a place called Hero Planet where they would undergo vigorous training for months so that they could carry on their families' legacy. And those who graduated were assigned to different areas based off of their skill level. Those with the most promise were assigned to the areas with the most criminal activity while those who just barely scraped by would be entrusted areas that only saw a villain or two once in a blue moon.

The government would have certainly preferred to wait until each hero was an adult, but the forces of evil had other plans. Not only that, but the heroes of old had grown weaker with age and were unable to stand up to this new younger threat. But while they used to make newcomers accept any enrolment invitation they received without question, now they preferred to give them a choice whether to accept or not, feeling it would be unfair to force someone to give up his or her life goals to become a hero.

Vaporeon took a deep breath and headed home, her eyes sparkling while she thought, 'I hope you saw that on TV, Mommy! I just won my first match on Earth!' giggling to herself after heading into her room and flopping around on her bed.

She then let out a sigh and thought, 'Still, I hope Hero Planet sends me a partner soon. I feel bad having to call the others away from their stations like this,' pouting while her mind added, 'Then again, they can afford to leave their posts. Until the second group graduates, I'm all by myself here.'

Meanwhile, on Hero Planet, a certain spaceship had arrived in front of a massive prison. The back door opened up as a rabbit, chameleon and gorilla exited, all three now sporting handcuffs that were set to electrocute them if they tried to get away. On top of that, the ones leading them to their cells were powerful creatures themselves, so even if they could ignore the electricity, they would surely be knocked out in seconds.

After posing for mug shots and having DNA samples extracted from them, they were led to a single cell made from the strongest metal in the galaxy. Needless to say, things could not have looked worse for them.

Drizzile bit his lower lip and whimpered, "I knew this would happen. Why did I go along with this?" Rillaboom patting him atop the head and sighing, "Don't beat yourself up. At least you weren't beaten by a human," Scorbunny growling, "Damn that Vaporeon! If her father hadn't grown up in a circus, she wouldn't be so skilled!"

The rabbit's eyes the widened before she pulled down on her ears and spat, "I just realized something! Obstagoon's probably wondering why we haven't returned to him yet! We need to bust out of here!"

"Pipe down!" one prisoner next to them barked, "If it was that easy, we'd all have escaped ages ago! The only one who's ever broken out of prison was Deoxys, and since that day, Hero Planet's government has really cracked down on security."

Scorbunny and Drizzile looked at one-another with confusion only for Rillaboom to say, "I remember reading about that."

Both turned to her with wonder as she sighed, "She got out by pretending to be dead. I don't think that's going to work for us," Scorbunny and Drizzile looking down in defeat.

However, after a while, the gorilla rested her hand against one of the bars and said, "Wait..." feeling it bend slightly as she grinned and said, "Well, looks like the almighty government missed one detail during their last inspection. Lucky us."

And with that, Rillaboom took hold of the bar and jerked it around before prying it off its hinges. She then placed it gently inside the cell in the hopes that the nearby guards would not hear. She looked back and forth and nodded at the others who gave her a thumb up and stepped out of the cell before she could. Since Rillaboom as so big, Drizzile had to cover his hands in water and use them like a lubricant on the bars, allowing the gorilla to slip through without making too much of a sound.

Scorbunny grinned and looked at the guards from behind, whispering, "Should we knock them out?" Rillaboom shaking her head and replying, "No. If we do, an alarm will go off. We want to avoid combat as much as possible."

As such, she looked around, noticing a ventilation shaft. But while that seemed like a good option, the gorilla knew full well that she would never be able to fit in there even if her entire body was lathered in Drizzile's water. But just as she was about to consider Scorbunny's plan, she noticed a rock on the floor, picking it up with a look of confusion. After a few seconds, she spotted what appeared to be a turtle with coal on his back, thinking the rock must have been a lump of coal that fell off of him.

As such, she signalled the others to be as quiet as possible before hurling the coal into the back of one guard's head. She turned around and barked, "Who threw that!?" she and her partner slowly making their way inside of the room while the trio just happened to tip-toe past them while they were fixated on the other prisoners.

"Some top notch security," Scorbunny whispered sarcastically while Drizzile looked around just in case. After all, this had been far too easy.

And yet surprisingly enough, thanks to Rillaboom's quick thinking, Drizzile's attentive nature and Scorbunny's speed, they were ultimately able to exit the building without being spotted. Rillaboom had even made absolutely sure to avoid being seen by the security cameras by having Drizzile spit thick water into the lens.

Once they were outside, they hijacked a police ship as Scorbunny grinned and squealed, "Wow, Obstagoon's gonna be so proud of us! I can just see his bright smile as he holds us in a tight embrace and says 'I'm so glad you're back! My evil plan couldn't possibly work without you!'"

"That was a joke, right?" Drizzile uttered as Rillaboom sighed, "Well, I doubt he'd be that affectionate, but you are right. He took us under his wing because he knows he's hopeless without us. Our losses today were a fluke, plain and simple."

Drizzile bit his lower lip but said nothing. He was certain that was the case for the others, but he had seen his loss coming the minute he started his match with Incineroar. Why he even bothered putting up an effort was a mystery to him.

Either way, once the night passed, the police ship crash-landed in the middle of Hawrelak park. Since the trip had taken them past midnight, Rillaboom had fallen asleep on the wheel, the gorilla now waking up and smacking her lips before murmuring, "We're here."

Since it was still dawn, most people were either in bed or working a night shift. As such, no one was outside to see the villainous trio. This was certainly lucky for them since they barely had any energy to head back to their headquarters. Though once they arrived at a rundown looking house, Scorbunny cleared her throat and stood up straight, looking as if she had not just woken up a mere hour ago. She then slicked her ears back before they snapped back into place, only now her fur had straightened out.

Rillaboom and Drizzile did the same before punching in a few numbers into an automatic lock. This allowed the door to unlock and grant them entry.

When all three entered, they noticed their leader already up and about and stretching for the day. Scorbunny smiled and gave an army salute before exclaiming, "Scorbunny reporting for duty!" Drizzile and Rillaboom adding, "And we're here too," not really feeling up to any theatrics right now.

Obstagoon turned to face them and said, "Oh, you're back. Wasn't expecting you so soon," slight disappointment in his tone.

Obstagoon was a truly intimidating creature. Specifically, he was a tall and slender badger with black and white fur all over his body. He also wore a vest made from grey fur, matching sleeves that only covered his forearms and big furry ankle bracelets. Along with his red eyes and razor sharp teeth, one could only imagine how dangerous he was.

"Now that we're back, we're more than ready to serve you!" Scorbunny squealed excitedly, "We promise we'll take down Vaporeon so no one can stop you from taking over!"

Obstagoon folded his arms and sighed, "You won't be doing anything," Drizzile looking slightly relieved only for Rillaboom and Scorbunny to look at one-another in confusion. Seeing this, the badger slapped his forehead and slid his hand down his face before groaning, "Oh god, I have to explain it, don't I?"

"Explain what, sir?" Scorbunny asked, Obstagoon stating, "Look, I admire your spirit. It's actually quite adorable. But when I hired you, I expected so much more from the three of you. Not only did you show a great deal of passion, but you even had great motivation! But after what I saw on TV yesterday, I realized something I should have realized long ago."

Rillaboom stared and asked, "And what would that be?" the badger stroking his chin and saying, "How do I put this? Well, I realized that I don't need help taking over this city, especially from useless wastes of space like you!"

Even Drizzile looked befuddled by these words, therefor he could not help but enquire, "Wait, how are Scorbunny and Rillaboom useless?" the other two turning to face him as he coughed and added, "And me too, of course."

"Please, that display yesterday was pathetic," Obstagoon retorted, "And before you ask, no, it's not because you lost. It's because each of you only lasted one minute in the ring!" Scorbunny and Drizzile both stunned while Rillaboom rubbed her arm and uttered, "Okay, that might be a good point."

"Nice to know at least one of you has a shred of intelligence," Obstagoon remarked, "Look, you can stay in my base all you like. I'm sure if you so much as stepped foot outside, you'd just be arrested again. Besides, once I take over, I'll have a much better home to go to. Consider it a parting gift."

But just as the badger was about to leave, Scorbunny frowned and retorted, "Hey, if we're so useless, then how did we break out of the toughest prison in the universe!?" Obstagoon shrugging his shoulder and replying, "I dunno. Dumb luck?"

Even the rabbit had nothing to say to that, thus Obstagoon rolled his eyes and exited the building. He knew he had to force Vaporeon to face him alone and not give her a chance to call in help from any of her overseas friends again.

Drizzile fell to his knees and broke out into tears, crying, "I KNEW IT! THIS WAS STUPID! WE SHOULD HAVE NEVER GONE DOWN THIS ROAD!" Rillaboom patting him atop the head and saying, "There, there, it'll be alright. Maybe if we turn ourselves in, they'll let us out early and forgive us for breaking out."

"No," Scorbunny retorted, the other two staring at her as she slowly turned to face them with tears in her eyes and a serious look forced upon her face, "We'll just have to prove him wrong! We'll take over Edmonton before he can! Then we'll be the ones giving him orders!"

"But-" Drizzile uttered only for the rabbit to grasp onto his shoulders and bark, "Drizzile, have you forgotten the way you were bullied and abused by humans your whole life!?"

Rillaboom bit her lower lip when Scorbunny added, "And Rillaboom, don't you dare tell me what happened to your family was okay!"

The rabbit took many deep breaths and said, "And I'm fighting for the sake of everyone who has ever been wronged by these horrible, judgemental people! Are you seriously going to give up on all of that!?" Rillaboom sporting a serious look and grunting, "Not on your life!" Drizzile wiping his eyes and shaking his head.

With all said and done, the trio headed out the door with determination in their souls. Though before they could challenge Vaporeon, they felt like they had to at least do something to draw her attention. And after a while, Scorbunny noticed a playground and said, "Hey, we could threaten a few children."

Rillaboom stroked her chin only for Drizzile to tense up and utter, "That might be going too far. We should threaten some adults instead," the rabbit about to scold him only to notice a little girl scrape her knee on the rim of the sandbox.

When she saw the child tear up, she gulped and walked over, Drizzile about to protest only for the rabbit to lean down in front of the child and ask, "Hey, are you okay?"

The little girl looked up and was about to respond only for her mother to run over and gasp, "Sophie!" picking her up and frowning, growling, "How are you still here!?" pulling out her phone to call the authorities.

Scorbunny did not know why, but she figured now was a good time to run. Even though beating up the police could have been a surefire way to bring them the attention they wanted, a part of her just felt like that would be a bad idea, Rillaboom and Drizzile simply following her.

After they ducked into an alleyway, Rillaboom took a deep breath and enquired, "What now?" the rabbit noticing they were right next to a bar as she said, "There must be all kinds of tough guys in there. If we can beat them up, Vaporeon will have no choice but to challenge us first!"

However, despite the fact that they should have had an advantage over humans, especially Rillaboom with her physique, Drizzile was ultimately overpowered and used as a bartering chip to get the others to give up. As such, they allowed the humans to beat them to a bloody pulp just so their friend would not be stabbed in the throat, all three tossed out by the owner.

"Oh my god," Rillaboom uttered, "I hate to say it, Scorbunny, but Obstagoon was right about us. I mean, by nature, we should have the advantage over mere humans, and yet look what just happened to us."

"On top of that, not a whole lot of them were even that muscular," Scorbunny groaned before Drizzile whimpered, "I'm sorry. It's my fault for being weak."

Just as Rillaboom was about to give him some reassurance, she noticed something inside the window of the bar. Specifically, the TV showed Vaporeon accepting a challenge from Obstagoon. In the end, he had ultimately threatened a child to bring her out into the open.

"I knew it," Scorbunny groaned before slamming her head against the wall under the window, Drizzile sighing, "Does it even matter? Admit it, Scor, even if we faced her all together, we still probably would have lost. We're just not good at this."

The rabbit frowned and turned toward the chameleon only to quiver her lip and let down tears. However, before she could even give a response, she blinked when she noticed a little boy walk by with his mother. The boy pointed and said, "Mommy, look. That rabbit's hurt."

"Oh my," the woman gasped before walking over and asking, "Are you okay? What happened to you?"

Scorbunny blinked and felt beyond confused when the woman pulled a medical kit out of her purse to examine her wounds. Needless to say, both Drizzile and Rillaboom were just as dumbfounded when she treated each and every one of them. And as much as the chameleon hated to ruin the moment, he uttered, "With all due respect, you do know who we are, right?"

The kid looked at his mother as she smiled and whispered, "Yes, I know you're the ones who fought Vaporeon and her friends yesterday," all three starting to think this woman was crazy while she added, "But the three of you don't really seem that bad compared to the villains I grew up seeing on the news. I don't know why you're not behind bars, but that doesn't matter to me. Even if you somehow escaped, I have a feeling you won't really hurt anyone."

Rillaboom winced at the sound of that since she knew exactly what the woman meant by that last statement. However, Scorbunny did not see it that way. She simply stared in stunned silence while the woman and her son waved goodbye and headed on their way.

"She knew who we were," Scorbunny uttered, "And she still helped us," Rillaboom uttering, "Yeah. I hope she doesn't get taken advantage of in the future."

Drizzile blinked and uttered, "Still, she was actually nice to us. We did nothing to deserve any of that, and yet she was actually nice. I'm starting to think maybe we were too quick to assume that all humans deserved to be punished."

Rillaboom was unsure what to say to that. After all, Drizzile had only turned to the side of evil after being bullied by a group of humans in elementary school. Meanwhile, Rillaboom's parents had been arrested while trying to provide for her. And while Scorbunny had never really dealt with anything like that before, she still felt obligated to fight for those she believed had been oppressed by humans.

However, that thought ended when the chameleon sighed, "Now that I look back, it was just that one group that picked on me back in the day. And they probably wouldn't have done that if I just stood up for myself."

"And, well, my parents did commit an awful lot of crimes," Rillaboom groaned, "Now I feel stupid," rubbing the back of her head.

Scorbunny's eye twitched before she pulled down on her ears, groaning, "Are you serious!? Just because one person showed us kindness doesn't mean they're all gonna be like that! Those people in the bar beat us up, right!?" Rillaboom remarking, "Yeah, because we threatened them first. And I'm sure that mother would have been fine with you worrying about her kid if you hadn't, you know, tried to knock out Edmonton's hero yesterday."

The rabbit gasped and stared in slight disgust. But just as she was about to retort, she stopped and looked down, her ears drooping. Deep down, she knew the gorilla and chameleon were right. If anything, she was just as judgemental as the very people they had tried to exact revenge on.

"Maybe we should just turn ourselves in," she sighed, "I never even realized it before, but my mom probably feels ashamed of me," Drizzile groaning, "Mine too. I never even really wanted to do this. I only went along with it because you guys wanted to," Rillaboom and Scorbunny staring at him.

Before the conversation could continue, though, they noticed the TV inside the bar now showing the match between Vaporeon and Obstagoon. It seemed as if the badger had chosen to have their fight right then and there, not giving the fox any time to prepare herself. He had not even set up a ring or anything.

Many bystanders watched in horror while the fox breathed heavily, already covered in cuts and bruises while blood dripped from Obstagoon's claws. The badger laughed and shouted, "I think I'm starting to see why you were sent here instead of Tokyo like your mom! You're not even close to her level!"

The fox gritted her teeth and growled, "Am too!" encasing the tip of her tail in an ice ball before leaping off the ground and spinning vertically toward him. She then shouted, "BOUNCING ICE BALL!" only for Obstagoon to cover his claws in darkness and bark, "SHADOW JAB!"

He proceeded to throw his claws forward and pierce the ice as Vaporeon's eyes widened with horror. She clapped her feet against the sides of his paws in an attempt to escape, but he ultimately ignored it and leaned backward, planting her chin into the ground.

While Vaporeon struggled to get back to her feet, Obstagoon rolled up into a ball and covered his entire body in darkness. He then rolled toward her and barked, "DARK MOTORCYCLE BASH!" a wheel made of pure dark energy surrounding him and making a sound just like that of a motor.

Sure enough, the wheel collided with Vaporeon as she coughed up blood and flew backward into a tree. Everyone nearby stared in horror while she slid down it, trying her hardest to stay awake. But in the end, she was too weak and passed out, her failure assured.

A large grin crossed Obstagoon's face before he broke out into hysterics and shouted, "OH MY GOD, YOU'RE ALL SCREWED!" the citizens trembling while he turned to a nearby news crew and stated, "Everyone at home, listen to me! Since I have defeated your one and only hero, you are all to obey me from now on! Therefor I have a few requests!"

But before he could say anything, Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Drizzile arrived in the area, all three of them breathing heavily. The badger turned and said with a smirk, "Sorry, guys, I already took care of her. But if it makes you feel any better, you can piss on her unconscious body."

"We can what?" Drizzile remarked before Scorbunny grunted, "We're not here for that! We're here to stop you!"


	2. Chapter 2

Just as all had seemed lost for the citizens of Edmonton, Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Drizzile had just arrived to challenge their former leader. Needless to say, the entire area had gone silent after Scorbunny's declaration.

But by far the most stunned of all was Obstagoon himself. He simply stood there and slowly pointed at them. But after a few seconds, he slapped the side of his head and laughed hysterically. He then held onto his sides while the trio looked beyond offended.

"Oh my god!" he shouted, "That was a good one! You know, maybe I was a bit rash booting you off my team! You three would make great jesters!"

"Hey!" Rillaboom snapped, "We're serious! It's just as Scorbunny said!"

"Oh, I get it," the badger grunted, "You're butthurt because of earlier and you seriously think you're good enough to exact revenge on me," shrugging and sighing, "Oh well, this freak of nature wasn't as much fun as I'd hoped anyway, so I guess I can humour you."

He then turned to the camera crew, all of them tensing up as he barked, "Alright, people of Edmonton, you'd better pay attention! I'm gonna give you even more of a reason to fear me as I take down these three losers all by myself!"

While Rillaboom and Scorbunny looked more than prepared for this, Drizzile started to tremble before uttering, "You know, guys, I have no doubt you two could probably beat this guy easily. You don't really need my help," only for Scorbunny to hold his hand, smile and say, "No, this is something we all have to do together. I'm not sure if this can make up for everything, but if we can stop this monster from taking over, it'll be a start."

Everyone watched in anticipation while Obstagoon smirked and said, "Alright, I'll make this nice and quick," dashing toward the trio with his claws at the ready. Rillaboom prepared a counter only for the badger to dash to the side and deliver a fierce slash to her ribcage. Blood flew out before the gorilla cried out in pain, Scorbunny frowning and aiming a flying kick toward Obstagoon.

The badger easily saw this coming and knelt down, allowing the rabbit to soar over his head. But before she could get far, he reached his arms up and grabbed her, leaning backward and planting her head into the ground.

Drizzile tensed up and trembled before Obstagoon smirked and advancing toward him, asking, "What? You scared?"

He then lifted the chameleon up by a single lock of hair that stuck up out of his head and added, "Well, at least you have common sense," hurling him into Rillaboom's face before she could retaliate.

Needless to say, any hope the citizens had before had just about left them when Rillaboom grunted in pain and fell on her back along with Drizzile. Scorbunny slowly rose to her feet only for Obstagoon to grab onto her ears and fling her into her allies.

Even though the trio had not taken in a lot of hits, they already looked winded. Even Rillaboom with her physical strength could barely move. No one could believe what they were seeing. Vaporeon may not have landed so much as a scratch on Obstagoon, but she had lasted a lot longer and taken a far worse beating.

"Wow," Obstagoon uttered before holding onto his sides and breaking out into hysterics, "I knew there was no way you three morons could ever defeat me, but I didn't think it would be this easy! Even together, you never stood the slightest hint of a chance!"

He wiped a tear from his eye and sighed, "I guess I have to thank you for the entertainment. Though it was short lived, using you all as rag dolls was pretty fun, but I did say I'd end this fast."

The badger proceeded to roll up into a ball, once again forming a wheel made of pure dark energy and emitting the sound of a motor. The nearby citizens looked away, all of them unable to bring themselves to watch any more of this. And sure enough, the trio was unable to respond when Obstagoon rolled toward them and barked, "DARK MOTORCYCLE BASH!"

Drizzile was the first to regain focus just in time for the wheel to ram into him and his friends. All of them flew in different directions. The chameleon flipped backward into a tree while Scorbunny soared sideways into a rock. Rillaboom simply rolled backward, skidding across the ground before her body went limp.

All three breathed heavily. They all felt lucky to still be conscious right now. Although deep down, a part of each one wished that attack had finished them off as they did not wish to be awake to witness such a horrible result.

Obstagoon took a deep breath and said, "I hope the three of you have learned a valuable lesson today. Never do anything ever. You'll just fail in the end."

The citizens in the area and those watching from home all stared in horror. Even the bar customers who had roughed them up earlier looked concerned while one of them asked, "You think maybe they would have stood a chance if we hadn't been so rough?"

Drizzile lay against the tree, trembling and turning to the others with a look of helplessness in his eyes. He bit his lower lip and sniffed, "We can't do anything right."

Scorbunny turned to face him while he whimpered, "We fail as villains and we fail as heroes. Let's face it, there's no place for us. Obstagoon was right. We only escaped Hero Planet's prison because of pure luck. Can any of you honestly say we could have escaped if that one prisoner hadn't dropped coal on the floor or if the guards had been slightly more attentive to their surroundings?"

Scorbunny was about to retort, but deep down, she could not argue with him on that. Even her spirits had been broken. It was one thing for them to fail, but to fail this easily. They may have lost quickly to Vaporeon and her friends, but they had still managed to put up somewhat of a fight. This was just pathetic.

However, Rillaboom could not accept this. There was no way it could end like this. With that in mind, the gorilla slowly pushed herself back to her feet and took many deep breaths, Obstagoon raising an eyebrow and asking, "Oh, you're not done being my punching bag?"

"Rillaboom, no," Scorbunny whimpered only for the gorilla to retort, "This will not end here! I don't care if he goes so far as to murder us! I'm not backing down!"

Obstagoon was no longer amused. As such, he frowned and grunted, "Well, then, that's fine by me. If you really wanna die so badly, I'll make this as quick as possible."

With that, the badger raced toward the gorilla with his claws at the ready. Rillaboom frowned and held up her arm, allowing him to jam his claws into it. She then wrapped her free arm around his back and leapt into the air, leaning backward and planting his skull into the ground.

Everyone looking away from the area turned when they heard Obstagoon howl in pain. Scorbunny and Drizzile both stared in shock while Rillaboom pried her arm out, ignoring the blood dripping from it and raising her arms, cupping her hands into a big fist. She then rammed them hard into Obstagoon's gut, and while this did cause him to cough in response, he ultimately treated the pain like a minor inconvenience and lifted up his arms. He then took hold of Rillaboom's wrists and pierced her flesh one last time before lifting his legs back and sending them up into her gut.

With the gorilla distracted, Obstagoon rose to his feet and hurled her over his head and into a tree. But while Rillaboom coughed up blood, she tried her hardest to ignore it as she breathed heavily and rose back to her feet.

"Oh my god," the badger sighed while he pinched his forehead, "You really don't get it, do you? It doesn't matter how hard you try. You three will never defeat me or anyone for that matter. Look at you, Rillaboom. You have these huge muscles yet you still lost to a human!"

Just as it looked like Rillaboom's spirits had been broken again, Scorbunny pushed herself off of the rock she had flown into and shouted, "BURNING ROCKET!" engulfing her foot in fire and landing a hard kick with her heel into Obstagoon's cheek. His eyes widened as his head jerked to the right only for him to grit his teeth, grab the rabbit by the ankle, lift her up and slam her into the ground.

Even so, Scorbunny ignored the pain this dealt and rolled away from him, panting slightly before shaking her head and barking, "So what if she lost to a human!? I'll have you know that he was a really tough human! There have been two others like him! It's not like that's the first time one beat someone like us!"

Rillaboom blinked and uttered, "I'm surprised you know that," Scorbunny chuckling as Obstagoon sighed, "If the one who beat you so easily couldn't beat me, what makes you think you still have a chance?"

Drizzile could no longer watch this himself. All it did was remind him of the various beatings he used to take in. As such, he gritted his teeth and leapt toward Obstagoon from behind, sending a karate chop into his skull.

While this did not deal quite as much damage as the three moves from earlier, it still had an effect as the chameleon gulped and sped to Rillaboom's side. Even though he was trembling, he still maintained a look of confidence and grunted, "I may be terrified of you, but I'm not gonna sit back and let you abuse my friends any longer! You're nothing more than a bully!"

Obstagoon now had a look of pure anger on his face. While he had been annoyed before, now he could no longer stand the trio. He had gone into this fight fully confident that he could defeat all three within five minutes, and yet not only were they still standing but they had even managed to bring harm to him.

"Stop acting so confident," he growled through deep breaths, Drizzile tensing up, "A few lucky hits won't guarantee anything! You've tested my patience and now you're all going to die!"

Vaporeon had finally started to regain consciousness just in time to make out what was happening. She stared in shock while Obstagoon formed his wheel of darkness one last time, and when the fox saw exactly who his targets were, she simply could not believe it.

"DARK MOTORCYCLE BASH!" Obstagoon cried out before making his motor sound and rolling toward the trio, Drizzile whimpering, "What do we do!?"

Scorbunny frowned and grunted, "We'll hit him with a wheel of our own! Come on, everyone! He may be tough, but he's just one guy!"

Rillaboom smiled and lifted her arms up, allowing Scorbunny to leap onto them before Drizzile gulped and jumped high enough for the rabbit to grab his ankles. Both of them leaned forward until the chameleon was able to grab hold of the gorilla's ankles, all three forming a green, red and blue wheel of their own before rolling toward the incoming badger.

The citizens along with Vaporeon all watched in amazement when both wheels collided, Obstagoon's eye twitching while he spat, "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING!? HOW THE HELL IS YOUR STUPID WHEEL AS STRONG AS MINE!?"

"Because we have something you don't have!" Scorbunny retorted, Rillaboom adding, "That's right! We have companionship!" Drizzile uttering, "Alone, we may not be that great, but together, we have a chance."

With that in mind, all three increased their speed and managed to push Obstagoon back while they barked, "TRI-ATTACK WHEEL!"

Obstagoon tried his absolute hardest to overpower them, but in the end, he was unable to maintain his current state. As such, he flew backwards with blood flying from his nostrils and landed hard on his back, the entire area going silent. As hard as it was to believe, Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Drizzile had come out on top.

And this was made clear when Obstagoon closed his eyes and blacked out. Vaporeon stared in shock, turning to the trio while trying to make sense out of all of this.

After a few seconds, the citizens in the area all smiled and cheered. Some of them even cried tears of joy. After all, their freedom had almost been lost. They could not have felt more relieved right now.

When Scorbunny, Drizzile and Rillaboom separated from one-another, breaking their wheel, the chameleon stared down at the badger lying before them. He gulped nervously, extended his leg and lightly nudged him with his foot. When Obstagoon did not respond, all three could tell that it really was over.

With that in mind, the trio turned to one-another and held each other in a tight embrace, shouting, "We did it! We actually did it!" Scorbunny and Rillaboom laughing while Drizzile breathed a sigh of relief.

Vaporeon slowly approached them but stopped when she got close. All three turned to face her as Scorbunny let out a sigh and bowed her head, saying, "Sorry for trying to take over the city before. The truth is, we were working through some issues and went about it the wrong way. We'll turn ourselves in and accept our full sentence now."

Rillaboom and Drizzile both stared in shock but realized this might very well be the best decision they could have made. But just as it looked like they would be taken back to Hero Planet's prison, Vaporeon shook her head and remarked, "It's fine."

The trio stared at her while she smiled and said, "You may have tried to take over yesterday, but your actions today have more than made up for that. Besides, it's not like you were that much of a challenge."

The fox giggled while all three lowered their eyelids. Vaporeon then cleared her throat and said, "Sorry, that was uncalled for," before sighing, "Look, Mommy had plenty of friends who started as villains too. All that really matters to me right now is that you saved Edmonton after I failed."

"So you're just gonna let us off the hook like that?" Drizzile uttered, Rillaboom clearing her throat and nudging his shoulder before the fox sighed, "Well, it does pain me that I wasn't able to stop him, but you three have done so much today. I don't know what's going on, but your actions tell me that I can trust you. After all, Mommy would have given you a second chance, so it would be wrong for me not to."

Drizzile still could not wrap his head around this. After years of being bullied, he was now hailed and cheered. Rillaboom and Scorbunny, meanwhile, turned to one-another and smiled. They could tell they had made the right decision in the end.

"You know, our initial plan was to get revenge on the world," Scorbunny stated, "But you know what? I think saving it sounds much better," the other two nodding in agreement while Vaporeon smiled and said, "As you can probably imagine, protecting Tokyo by myself isn't exactly an easy task and I don't really want to have to rely on my friends to leave their assigned areas if something like this happens again. So, um, I was wondering..."

Rillaboom smiled and said, "We'll gladly work alongside you and protect Edmonton," holding out her hand before Scorbunny nodded and added, "There's no way you're doing this alone."

The two of them then turned to Drizzile, and while he hesitated at first, he ultimately realized this was the right thing to do. As such, he took a deep breath and said, "Yeah, I'm in."

And with all said and done, Obstagoon was taken to Hero Planet's prison. But the best part of all was that Scorbunny, Drizzile and Rillaboom had all been accepted as citizens of Edmonton. However, money would still be an issue for them. While Hero Planet's government provided graduates with a handsome sum every week to help them provide for themselves, the trio had not even attended Hero School.

Because of this, Vaporeon had agreed to let the three live with her from now on. After all, her house was big enough. Though when they arrived and the fox let them inside, she blinked and said, "Oh, right, I just remembered I only have one guest room. Does that work for you?"

"That should be fine," Scorbunny replied with a big smile, "Right, guys?" Drizzile uttering, "I don't know. I'm not exactly good at sharing a bed," Rillaboom adding, "And you've all seen how big I am, right?"

Vaporeon tapped her chin and thought, 'Oh no, what do I do? I can't just kick them out. That would be rude,' only for Drizzile to turn to the couch and say, "I could sleep on that if that's alright."

Scorbunny nodded and said, "I'm sure that'll be fine. Then Rillaboom could take the guest bed and I could share with Vaporeon," the fox about to retort only for the rabbit to turn to her and add, "But only if you're okay with it."

The fox breathed a sigh of relief, glad to see that Scorbunny had not forgotten that this was her house. Even so, she really had no arguments. The arrangement made perfect sense.

With that in mind, Vaporeon made them all fish and chips along with a garden salad to welcome them. And this surprisingly turned out to be the perfect meal. Drizzile absolutely loved fish, so the breaded seafood was just right for him. Meanwhile, Rillaboom had a fondness for potatoes, so she immediately went for the fries. And vegetables were among Scorbunny's favourite foods, so the garden salad was more than enough to please her palate.

Watching them eat, Vaporeon smiled and ate her own dinner happily. She could not believe that she had already gotten herself an ally to help her protect Edmonton, let alone three. And to think that they were all living with her as well.

Later that night while the others were settling in and Scorbunny was having a shower, the fox lay on her bed and selected a contact on her phone. She then held it up to her ear until she heard a light feminine voice say, "Hi, sweetie. How's it going?"

This was the voice of Vaporeon's mother, a brown fox named Eevee. She and her husband currently lived in Thailand, specifically Bangkok.

"It's going great, Mommy," Vaporeon replied, "I won my first match on Earth yesterday," her mother squealing with excitement before shouting, "Hey, Popplio, our baby girl beat her first villain!"

Vaporeon held the phone away from her ear since Eevee had forgotten to do the same when she shouted that. She then brought it back to her ear when the brown fox stated, "We are both so proud of you. I don't think I need to remind you that I also won my first match on Earth, though I imagine your victory was probably more impressive than mine."

Hearing the slight negativity in her mother's tone, Vaporeon did not have the heart to tell her just how easy her match with Scorbunny had been. After all, Eevee's first villain had already taken in a lot of damage prior to their match and had given herself no time to rest, and even with that handicap, Eevee had still come very close to failure.

"By the way," Eevee asked, "is it true that they didn't give you any allies?" Vaporeon replying, "No, they didn't, but it's okay. I've actually got three allies helping me out now."

She was unsure whether or not to bring up the fact that they had defeated someone she had lost to. But either way, Eevee was very happy to hear this. And so the two continued their conversation for a while longer before the brown fox realized she needed to head off to work. As such, she gave her daughter a nice goodbye before both hung up, Vaporeon saying, "Oh yeah, it's morning where she is."

Scorbunny returned from her shower and dried herself off before leaping onto the bed next to Vaporeon. This caused the mattress to bounce briefly as the blue fox's eyes widened. But she soon smiled and asked, "How is it?"

"I forgot how nice laying on a bed was," the rabbit replied before turning to Vaporeon and adding, "Thank you so much, you know, for giving us this chance. It really means a lot to me, well, all of us."

Vaporeon nodded and replied, "I'm sure you all had your reasons for turning to the dark side, but I'm glad you learned your lesson. It already feels nice having not just allies but friends here in Edmonton."

The rabbit's eyes widened briefly. Just hearing Vaporeon refer to her and the others as friends was beyond touching, especially since deep down, she was still not entirely sure if she deserved this. But just one last smile from Vaporeon helped her forget about all of that. Therefor she nodded and said, "Goodnight," falling asleep almost instantly.

The fox stared before chuckling and drifting off to sleep herself. The future certainly looked bright.


	3. Chapter 3

Note: Before you ask, yes, I went with the Kabuki Trim for Furfrou's design.

Today was certainly an exciting day for Vaporeon. It was her first full day with her new housemates. She could only imagine all the fun things they could do together when not fighting evil.

But when she woke up, she noticed Scorbunny was no longer in bed next to her. She blinked and bolted upright before she noticed smoke seeping into the room. As such, she leapt out of the bed and ran toward the source, seeing Scorbunny in front of the stove trying to make bacon and eggs with panic in her expression.

Just as expected, she had burned the bacon and the eggs were a tad scorched on the bottom, the rabbit turning to face Vaporeon with a nervous grin, saying, "Morning. Your breakfast is almost ready," Drizzile spitting water into the burners. And while this did stop the flames, this also meant the stove could not be turned on for a while.

Soon enough, all four were seated at the table with burnt toast added to the menu. Scorbunny smiled weakly while Drizzile forced down a slice of bacon just so he would not come off as ungrateful. Rillaboom let out a sigh and resisted the urge to toss hers in the trash while Vaporeon let out a sigh.

"Look, I appreciate this and all, but you really shouldn't have," she uttered with a fake grin before thinking, 'No, really, you shouldn't have.'

"Well, you've been so nice to us," Scorbunny replied, "I figured we should do something nice for you."

"In my defence, I suggested watering the garden," Drizzile chimed in while Vaporeon bit into a piece of toast, trying to ignore just how dry and smokey it was. She then forced it down and said, "Hey, it's not so bad, but by all means, let me do the cooking from now on."

After a few seconds, the fox suggested, "Hey, I just thought of something. Even though we don't really need them, I thought it might be nice to have some clothes for days when we just wanna hang out and have fun, you know?"

Scorbunny cupped her hands together with her eyes sparkling while she squealed, "That would be great!" only for Rillaboom to sigh, "But we don't have the money to pay for that. Remember, you need money to acquire things from a store legally," rubbing her pointing finger and thumb together.

Scorbunny groaned, "Oh, right. We might need to get part time jobs," Drizzile rubbing his chin as he seemed to like the idea.

"Oh, that's not a problem," Vaporeon chuckled, "You see, every week, Hero Planet's government sends me a thousand dollars in the mail for groceries, clothing, furniture and pretty much anything else, and because I'm a new graduate, they gave me ten thousand to get me started."

All three of her housemates stared at her with their jaws dropped until she waved her hands in front of her face and uttered, "Don't feel like you owe me anything for this. As long as you're all heroes living with me, it's like you're earning money too."

The trio still felt a tad guilty for this, but the fox insisted that this was perfectly fine. And all three of them did rather like the idea of looking fashionable for days on the town.

While Vaporeon led them down the street to a nearby mall where they could purchase clothes, many citizens spotted them and smiled. Scorbunny flashed then all peace signs while Rillaboom and Drizzile simply could not believe this. They had only defeated one villain and they already seemed to be quite popular with the masses.

But while Rillaboom seemed to be just as happy as Scorbunny, Drizzile had a look of uncertainty. He was glad to be accepted, but for some strange reason, he did not like the fact that this was the reason. But why?

Whatever the case, the group soon arrived as Vaporeon smiled and said, "Welcome to Southgate Mall," leading them inside as Scorbunny looked on with wonder, saying, "Wow, it's so cool."

Rillaboom and Drizzile gave the rabbit an odd look. While it was nice, this was far from the most impressive mall they had been to. But then again, both were simply glad that they could enter an establishment like this again.

Either way, Vaporeon led them to a place called Hudson's Bay, saying, "This is where you can find clothes. The first floor is mostly for women's fashion while the second floor is where you'll find most of the men's stuff."

"Wow, you sure know a lot for someone who just moved here," Scorbunny replied as Vaporeon chuckled, "Oh, well, I actually graduated a couple of weeks ago, so I've lived here long enough to know this general area. There are still a few places I haven't been. Everyone keeps recommending West Edmonton Mall, but it's apparently a pretty long way from here."

"Well, this is fine by me," Scorbunny replied, "You live in a nice neighbourhood. I think it's worth being far away from the best mall in town."

Rillaboom nodded and said, "Though it is funny. Before we moved in, I'd never even heard of Aspen Gardens," Vaporeon laughing nervously and sighing, "Yeah, apparently, most people in Edmonton don't know it exists."

After their conversation, Drizzile headed to the second floor while the others remained on the first one. He started to tremble while he rode up the escalator. It had been a long time since the chameleon had been by himself in a public place, two years in fact. Rillaboom and Scorbunny had almost always been with him for every waking moment during that time.

Once he reached the top, he took a deep breath and thought, 'It's okay, Drizzile. You have nothing to worry about. The people here like you. No one's gonna beat you up.'

But even with that in mind, he still looked around with fear in his expression. He simply looked around at various shirts before noticing a black one with a skull on it. This brought back memories of a kid with a shirt just like that pelting him with rocks.

When he spotted a red hoodie with a picture of a dragon, he remembered a girl with such a top stuffing him into a trashcan. And while he looked around, more and more articles of clothing brought back awful memories of his years in school. Thus he could no longer take it and ran toward a change room only to run into a young girl with long black hair and a red sleeveless top, both falling backwards.

The girl rubbed the back of her head and groaned, "Hey, watch where you're going," before opening her eyes and realizing who had just run into her. And when Drizzile opened his eyes, he gasped, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" trembling and bracing himself only for the girl to stand up and hold out her hand, saying, "No, it's fine. I wasn't really paying attention either."

Drizzile trembled for a few more seconds before blinking and gazing upon the girl before him, who now that she was standing up he could tell was almost twice as tall as he was. And while that was intimidating at first and even brought back memories of another tall girl who used to pick on him, her words suddenly clicked in his mind.

"You're not mad at me?" he uttered before the girl nodded and replied, "How could I be? I mean, you and your friends saved all of Edmonton yesterday. That was pretty cool."

Drizzile blushed lightly before letting out a sigh and saying, "Of course," the girl asking, "Is something wrong?"

The chameleon bit his lower lip and rubbed his arm before uttering, "No, nothing's wrong," the girl giving him an odd look before shrugging her shoulders and saying, "Well, okay, if you say so," turning around and slowly walking in the other direction.

After a few seconds, Drizzile held his hands by his sides and asked, "Hey, uh, this might sound like an odd request, but can you walk with me?"

The girl turned to face him while he rubbed his arm and said, "You know, just to hang out. You seem pretty nice."

A smile crossed the girl's face before she gladly accepted his offer. Drizzile did not even care to ask her why she was in the men's section. He was just happy to have some company while he shopped. Though why he so easily accepted the help of a human he could not figure out. While he may have saved their lives and even spoken up in their defence, he still had not entirely forgotten about the humans who bullied him in school. And yet he felt strangely content around this complete stranger as if he had known her all his life.

She proved to be far more than just moral support as well when she picked out clothes that she felt were perfect for Drizzile. All she had to see was his reaction to each article and she knew exactly what to pick out for him.

After a while, the chameleon had purchased a few shirts and held them in a plastic bag. But just as he headed for the escalator to rejoin the others, he turned and said, "Thanks for all the help, um..." his eyes wide with shock as he uttered, "Oh my god, I haven't even asked your name yet! I had you help me and didn't even ask your name! That's just so rude!"

He clutched onto the sides of his head only for the girl to chuckle, "Look, it's fine. You don't have to freak out about every little thing," the chameleon blinking before she knelt down and said, "It's Allie."

The chameleon nodded and said, "Well, it was very nice meeting you, Allie," holding out his hand with a nervous smile. And while this still felt awkward to him, the moment she shook his hand, he felt strangely at ease.

Either way, the two gave a quick goodbye to one-another and hoped to see each other again. And while he rode down the escalator, the chameleon groaned, "Oh no, I didn't ask for a phone number or anything. I'm never gonna see her again."

Scorbunny and Rillaboom had both purchased a few clothes of their own, though the gorilla had primarily focused on pants as she did not feel like she looked all that good with a shirt on. Vaporeon gladly paid for all of it before she noticed Drizzile slink toward them with a look of regret on his face.

The fox stared at him briefly and asked, "Um, did you not find anything?" only for Drizzile to hold up his bag. Vaporeon looked through it, nodded and said, "These are good clothes. Do you regret purchasing them?"

"No," the chameleon sighed, "They're terrific. In fact, someone actually helped me pick them out," Scorbunny smiling wide and squealing, "Wait, you mean you made a new friend!?" approaching him and holding his hands, "Is he nice!?"

"Well, yes, she is," Drizzile replied as the rabbit stared wide-eyed and laughed nervously, "In fact, she's the nicest human I've ever met. It's just a shame I'll probably never see her again."

Scorbunny and Vaporeon stared in confusion until Rillaboom enquired, "Let me guess, you didn't get her contact information, did you?" the chameleon nodding with his lip quivering only for the gorilla to roll her eyes and sigh, "Look, Drizzile, don't let it bother you. The fact that you had the courage to talk to a human is a feat in itself. Besides, I'm sure you'll see her again, and even if you don't, you can make more friends in the future."

The chameleon wanted to argue about how Allie was special to him, but he could see what Rillaboom had tried to do. As such, he sighed, nodded and forced a weak smile. Therefor Vaporeon clapped her hands together and said, "Right. Now that that's settled, how about I treat you all to lunch at the food court?"

Scorbunny bit her lower lip while Rillaboom shook her head and replied, "You've already spoiled us enough. We don't wanna run your wallet dry," only for the fox to chuckle, "It's fine. Remember, my money is technically your money as well, so instead of seeing it as me spending money on you, look at this as all of us spending money on ourselves."

She then gave a shrug and a nervous grin while the rabbit and gorilla figured it was best not to argue. Drizzile, however, was more focused on the idea of running into Allie again. After all, there was no way she could have left the mall yet.

Either way, the group was soon in a section with multiple food stands and many tables. Vaporeon had recommended them a Chinese stand, Scorbunny and Rillaboom ordering four items each while Drizzile only ordered fish and shrimp tempura. He would have added more, but he did not have much of an appetite.

While the others ate, Vaporeon smiled and asked, "So, where are you all from? Clearly you didn't grow up in Edmonton."

Rillaboom blinked and nodded, saying, "That is a good question. Well, I'm from Kenya," Scorbunny adding, "I'm from the United Kingdom."

Vaporeon blinked as Drizzile uttered, "Ireland," the fox rather confused when she asked, "How did you all meet if you're all from so far away."

Rillaboom chuckled and said, "Well, it's funny. After my parents were arrested, well, I didn't want to be forced to live in an orphanage. So I ran and snuck onto a ship headed to England. Along the way, the crew stopped at Dublin for supplies. When I got off to stretch, I noticed Drizzile sitting by the peer looking depressed."

The chameleon nodded and sighed, "Yeah. I used to go there to calm my nerves," Rillaboom smiling and continuing, "Anyway, I asked him what was up, and when he told me about all the abuse he suffered, I told him to come with me. I had no idea what England had in store, but I figured anywhere was better than our hometowns. And, well, it seemed like we were wrong."

"Are you saying the people in England were just as bad?" Vaporeon remarked as Rillaboom sighed, "We thought so, though looking back, it wasn't like they didn't have a good reason. Since we had no money, we had to steal to survive. Somehow I figured they might take pity on us since we were poor and it never occurred to us that they would likely treat a fellow human the same way if they did the same thing. Looking back, we were kinda stupid, weren't we?"

Drizzile snickered when she said that, Scorbunny smiling lightly before saying, "Oh yeah, this is when I met them. I was living in Blyth at the time. Unlike them, I actually had a pretty okay life. I never really had a problem with humans since they never had a problem with me."

Vaporeon nodded and enquired, "So why did you turn on them?" as the rabbit sighed, "Well, let's just say I was pretty naive too. When I heard about their reasons for coming here, my heart melted. Hearing Rillaboom tell me her parents were arrested all because they tried to provide for her, it crushed my soul. And the abuse that Drizzile suffered, oh, it was so painful and ultimately convinced me that the heroes of the world were simply being manipulated and that humans really were the bane of our existence. All those friends I made, how did I know they wouldn't stab me in the back someday?"

The fox was truly amazed by all of this but she understood. A part of her could not help but feel for them. But even so, she figured there must have been more to this, therefor she enquired, "So with all of that in mind, what made you change your mind? I'm grateful you're fighting for good, but if my childhood was that terrible, I probably would have grown up to be evil."

"Well, to be honest, our lives weren't really as terrible as we thought," Rillaboom sighed, "The reason my parents were arrested was because they had to steal to provide for me. Even though it was for a good cause, they still committed a crime. Now that I think about it, they've probably been released by now and I never thought to find out."

"And, well, I was only ever picked on by four students all the way to middle school," Drizzile sighed, "And it was the same four students, too. Many others even seemed to feel pity for me but were likely scared to stand up for me. Like Rillaboom, I just figured my life was even worse off than it actually was, and I can't help but think maybe I should have at least tried to defend myself."

Vaporeon nodded in understanding. Either way, she was glad to know that they had indeed come to their senses.

Once all four were finished at the mall, they were ready to leave, Drizzile looking back at the entrance. He figured he would surely run into Allie again someday, and if not, it was just as Rillaboom said.

But while he felt content, he heard a scream coming from nearby, gasping, "Did you hear that!?" the others nodding. And so, all four heroes sprinted toward the source, and sure enough, a young girl was currently held hostage by three strangers.

The one holding her was a red goblin with long black hair, a green lower body, a pointy nose and sharp fangs on the sides of her mouth. The second was a small turtle-like golem made entirely out of coal. He had two arms that were bigger than his small stature would lead one to believe and a wheel where feet should have been.

However, the one who truly stood out was a poodle standing in front of them striking a pose like a supermodel and smirking at a nearby news camera. Most of her fur was white, though her face indicated that she was black underneath. She had a blue nose and matching eyeshadow. The fur atop her head was shaped like an arch and had been painted red at the front and halfway down her ears, four black marks that resembled downward arrows on the front of each. The fur covering her wrists and ankles was also red and curved into a round shape at the front, her matching tail resembling four planks of wood stuck together.

However, the only thing that Drizzile was able to focus on was that the girl they had captured was Allie, the poodle exclaiming, "Attention, citizens of Edmonton! I am Furfrou and these are my compagnes, Morgrem and Rolycoly!" pointing at the goblin and golem while she said this.

Rolycoly narrowed his eyelids and grunted, "Did she have to use the feminine version?" Morgrem holding up her finger and shushing him.

Allie struggled and grunted, "What do you want with me!?" Furfrou smirking and saying, "Don't worry your jolie little head," twirling a strand of her hair, "You are merely, how you say, a bartering chip. Once the heroes of Edmonton arrive, we will let you go."

"But, madame, I thought you were going to-" Morgrem uttered only for the poodle to glare at her, the goblin gulping nervous and pursing her lips.

"Well, you can let her go right now!" came a deep feminine voice, everyone turning to see the four heroes in question standing right there while Rillaboom barked, "We accept your challenge!"

Allie turned and gasped, a bright smile on her face. Not only was she relieved to see all four of them had not yet left the area, just the sight of Drizzile coming to save her life was a huge relief.

Furfrou stared wide-eyed and uttered, "Attendez, I was told that there were three of you," before Vaporeon stared in confusion and uttered, "Wait, what do you mean? Until yesterday, I was to protect this city by myself."

"Don't bullshit us, lady!" Rolycoly retorted, "We saw it on the sports network! You defeated three villains along with a cat and some human!" the fox letting out a sigh and replying, "Well, that is true, but those two are actually from different parts of the world. They weren't actually assigned here."

Scorbunny nodded and remarked, "That's right, but she doesn't need them anymore because she's got us!" pointing at herself while Drizzile frowned and tried not to tremble, Rillaboom pounding her fist against her palm.

Furfrou took a good look at them and narrowed her eyelids. After a few seconds, she nodded and said, "I thought the trois of you looked familiar. You're the ones who lost to the merfox and her copines."

All three of them groaned and rubbed their arms out of embarrassment before Scorbunny shook her head and retorted, "Yeah, but we also saved Edmonton from a really powerful villain recently! So don't you dare look down on us!"

The poodle took a deep breath and folded her arms while she gazed upon them. She then smirked and said, "Well, if what you say is true, then defeating you will earn us even more of a reputation. Very well. We shall fight at the Commonwealth Stadium tonight at six. Any objections?"

Drizzile could not believe what he did next, but sure enough, he took a step forward and retorted, "We'll be there and we'll win! Count on it!"

Allie beamed bright while Scorbunny and Rillaboom gave the chameleon an impressed look. And sure enough, they were more than up to this as well. There was no way they would allow these new villains to take over. But of course, all Drizzile could think about right now was that these three had captured the first human friend he had ever made.


	4. Chapter 4

The citizens of Edmonton could not wait for six PM to roll around. They wanted to see Vaporeon and her new friends take down Furfrou and her posse as soon as possible.

But of course, those who were the most concerned were the members of her family. As soon as her father saw the report, he called up her mother while she was at work and told her about everything. And sure enough, the woman immediately left her office to pick up the man before she drove all the way to the stadium two hours ahead of schedule.

The heroes were already preparing for their matches, Vaporeon frowning and whipping a punching bag with her tail while Scorbunny delivered an onslaught of kicks to another one. Even Drizzile sent a series of palm punches into one bag, showing more force than he did against Incineroar. But while he looked serious, there was this slight sense of doubt in his eyes, though no one seemed to notice.

Rillaboom lifted up a sandbag and rammed it into the floor with a piledriver before wiping sweat off of her forehead and shouting, "Oh yeah, I'm ready and raring to go!" flexing her muscles.

"Same here!" Scorbunny stated with a grin, "They'll think twice before coming here again!" Vaporeon nodding in agreement.

However, after a few seconds, she turned to Drizzile and asked, "Hey, do you want the first match? That hostage is your new friend, right?"

The chameleon bit his lower lip while his eyes twitched. However, ultimately, he breathed in and out and nodded, grunting, "Yes. And I'll make them accept it, too! I want to make them pay for this!"

There was a hint of uncertainty in his voice, but since he always sounded like this, none of the others noticed. As such, Scorbunny and Rillaboom gave him supportive grins while the gorilla gave him a pat on the head. It felt like a true miracle to hear him say that.

At that moment, the door opened as a forty year old man and thirty eight year old woman stood by the entrance. The woman let out a sigh and said, "We were told we'd find you here."

"Oh, hello," Scorbunny squealed with a grin, "Are you adoring fans?" the man replying, "Well, yes, but we're also Allie's parents. That's the name of the hostage, if you weren't aware."

"Oh, we met earlier," Drizzile uttered, suddenly feeling nervous for some reason. Both parents were happy to hear this regardless, thus the woman smiled and shook the chameleon's hand and sighed, "It means so much that all four of you are doing this. I mean, I know it's your job, but still, when Brian here told me what was going on, I just about had a heart attack."

She then chuckled and added, "The name's Wendy, by the way," Scorbunny and Rillaboom shaking a hand each before Vaporeon stated, "Don't worry, Brian and Wendy. Your daughter's in good hands."

Brian and Wendy held each other's hand and exited the area, feeling a sense of relief. But while Drizzile should have felt more motivated, now his fear had risen. On top of having to step into the ring and save his new friend, now he had to make sure that he did not let down her parents. And while he was determined to do so, he was almost certain he would fail.

After nearly two hours had passed, thousands were assembled in the bleachers. A young woman was seated behind a desk with a microphone in front of her as she exclaimed, "Hello, Edmonton! I am your host, Tori Andrews, and I am here to announce one of the biggest events this stadium has ever seen! For the third time in just three days, we all get to witness a fight between good and evil!"

Two rings had been set up with special seats preserved for those who would not fight in the first match. The villains were already beside the ring with Allie tied up. Morgrem had a claw pointed at her neck in case she tried to escape only to lower it when the heroes entered the area.

Drizzile stared at this and uttered, "Wait, why do you still have Allie? We accepted your challenge," Rolycoly shrugging and replying, "Well, we can't have you chickening out, can we?"

"Well put," Furfrou replied with a smirk, "How this will work is that all four of you will go up against us in a series of one-on-one matches. Whichever team is left standing will win. And for the first match, I will-"

"Hold it!" Drizzile snapped, Allie blinking as Furfrou glared daggers at him. He tensed up only for Scorbunny to place her paw reassuringly on his shoulder. Thus he took a deep breath and growled, "If it's alright with you, I would like to have the first match!"

The poodle could see his knees shaking. This gave her an idea as she flashed a toothy grin and replied, "Very well. You can face Morgrem in the second ring," before the goblin grinned herself and exclaimed, "Thank you so much, madame!"

At that moment, all four heroes turned toward the rings as Vaporeon uttered, "How did we not notice that second ring?" Rillaboom shrugging her shoulders.

Morgrem handed the rope binding Allie over to Rolycoly and leapt into the ring, giving the audience two peace signs and sticking out her tongue. Needless to say, she received many boos and jeers but simply ate it up. After all, this was the sort of thing villains lived for.

Furfrou then climbed into the other ring and said, "While that's going on, I shall face Vaporeon, unless of course there are any objections, which I will ignore of course."

Vaporeon smirked and said, "Big mistake," as Scorbunny grinned wide and squealed, "Kick her ass just like you kicked mine!"

The fox was surprised to hear that but smiled and nodded her head. While she had lost easily to Obstagoon, there was no way she would allow Furfrou to get the better of her. After all, the poodle looked nowhere near as intimidating.

The poodle smiled and waved her right paw against the ear on the same side as if it was hair. Since she had only seen the fox's match with Scorbunny, she saw this particular opponent as the best that Edmonton had to offer. And if she could defeat their best, there was no way the others could possibly overcome her.

Morgrem, meanwhile, smirked at Drizzile and said, "You know, it took a lot of balls to volunteer to go first, but can you back it up!?" the chameleon trying his hardest not to look frightened only for the goblin to stick out her tongue and wave her hands downward beside her ears, shouting, "BOOGA-BOOGA-BOOGA!"

The chameleon winced in response to this and sweat poured down his head. Thus Morgrem pointed and laughed at him, exclaiming, "OH MY GOD, THAT WAS PRICELESS! YOU SHOULD SEE THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE!"

Scorbunny frowned and snapped, "Don't let her get to you, Drizzile! She's just trying to mess with you!" Drizzile taking a deep breath and uttering, "Right, of course."

With all said and done, all four fighters seemed ready for their matches. As such, Tori rang the bell before Morgrem raced toward Drizzile with her claws at the ready.

It did not take long for the chameleon to notice an opening. In fact, Morgrem's advance was sloppy, thus when she closed in, Drizzile knelt down and sent a palm punch into her gut.

The crowd cheered for him only to notice a small reaction from the goblin and not much else. Fear started to take over Drizzile while Morgrem wrapped her arms around him, planted her claws into his back and leapt backward. She then flipped back ninety degrees and rammed his skull into the canvas.

The chameleon's eyes and mouth were wide with terror when Morgrem released him and allowed him to collapse. Even after all that training, after he was able to put dents in the punching bag, he could still only deal light hits even to such a skinny adversary. And it did not end there as the goblin mounted herself onto his back and grabbed hold of his chin, pulling up on it while everyone could hear his back start to crack.

Scorbunny and Rillaboom both stared in horror while Tori exclaimed, "While Drizzile may have landed the first blow, Morgrem easily makes up for that with a suplex and a camel clutch! It's not looking good, folks, but what of ring one?"

Vaporeon currently had Furfrou caught in a submission hold. Specifically, her right hand was on the poodle's head and her left arm was wrapped around her neck for a sleeper hold. However, she took it a step further by binding Furfrou's arms in place with her tail.

Needless to say, this reassured the crowd while Vaporeon grinned and tauntingly asked, "Not so tough now, are you?" all the while thinking, 'Mommy's biggest weakness was submission holds. Due to her lack of physical strength, she was never able to pull them off for long. But I'm different. My body's a lot tougher than hers, so I can pull them off easily.'

However, Furfrou looked rather bored as she sighed, "Honestly, I expected much better from you," shifting her tail right underneath Vaporeon's. The crowd watched in confusion until the poodle used her tail like a spatula to pry the blue one off, the fox's eyes going wide as she uttered, "What?"

Sure enough, the shock of this moment caused her to loosen her hold thus allowing Furfrou to shift her head forward and swing it backward into Vaporeon's face. The fox reeled her head back and allowed the poodle to make her escape before falling victim to a rolling sobat.

It did not end there, though, as Furfrou snickered and said, "If you think that's bad, you've only seen a sample of my power," unleashing an onslaught of palm punches into Vaporeon's face, and unlike Drizzile's, these ones actually hurt, bruises already forming in the spot she had hit.

The crowd stared at this in horror. Scorbunny and Rillaboom seemed more fixated on Drizzile's match until the rabbit looked over and noticed this, uttering, "Oh no, Rillaboom, this isn't looking good."

The gorilla could not believe what she was seeing. Both heroes were performing horribly right now. But just as it seemed like Drizzile was already prepared to submit, Allie bit her lower lip and cried, "Come on, Drizzile, you can do it! I know you can!"

The chameleon's eyes widened before he gritted his teeth and growled, "That's right! I have to win!" curling his tail inward before barking, "CHAMELEON LANCE!" sending his tail upward and ramming the tip right into Morgrem's gut.

The goblin winced and released her hold on Drizzile, backing up and clutching onto the spot that had just been jabbed. And things only got better when the chameleon rose to his feet and delivered a roundhouse to her face. He then sent a karate chop into her neck before latching onto her shoulders and shouting, "LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT!"

The crowd went wild, Allie and her parents smiling wide while Drizzile lifted up Morgrem and leaned backward, planting her skull into the canvas. Scorbunny and Rillaboom both grinned, now feeling far more confident.

But just as Drizzile was about to release his hold, Morgrem cupped her feet together and sent them downward and into his gut. This caused him to cough up blood and let go of her, falling on his back. The goblin then flipped upright, snickered and turned around, barking, "Was that really all you had!? Seriously, that barely hurt at all!"

The entire area went silent while Vaporeon breathed heavily and backed up. Furfrou turned toward the ring and smirked, thinking, 'It would seem this lizard is not as strong as he seems. Someone as skinny as Morgrem should be in far more pain after taking an onslaught like that. I knew he was all talk.'

"Hey, don't turn your back to your opponent!" Vaporeon growled while dashing toward Furfrou. But just as she was about to land a hit, the poodle smirked and extended the flesh under her tail, ramming the flat red part into the fox's face and shouting, "PAN DE QUEUE!"

Everyone stared in shock while blood flew out of Vaporeon's nostrils and she backed up. She then held her hand out under her nose and caught a few droplets, trembling and gazing upon her opponent in horror. It was then that Furfrou smirked and formed holes in the front of the red fur surrounding her wrists. Long black needles jutted out of them before she raced forward and planted the tips into Vaporeon's shoulders.

Rillaboom watched with her eyes wide open while the red fur started to spin like egg beaters. This caused holes to form in the parts that had been pierced while blood flew out. Vaporeon cried out in agonizing pain while Furfrou exclaimed, "MELANGEUR A AIGUILLES!"

To make matters worse, Drizzile was too distracted by what Morgrem had said to pay attention to any of this. As such, the goblin leapt over to him and latched her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his thighs, binding him in place. She lashed out her fangs and bit into his slender arm, causing blood to fly out since his flesh had been completely pierced.

Morgrem then placed her feet against the mat and leapt into the air, shouting through clenched teeth, "FANG SUPLEX!" leaning backward and slamming the back of Drizzile's head into the canvas.

Allie's eyes widened as she gasped, "DRIZZILE!" Morgrem removing her fangs and allowing the chameleon to collapsed. And while Drizzile lay there with his eyes closed, Vaporeon gritted her teeth and moved her hands forward, grasping onto Furfrou's rotating wrists.

The fur scraped her hands and caused more blood to fly out, but after a few seconds, the spinning started to slow down. Furfrou gasped and shook her head while Vaporeon took many deep breaths and grunted, "I am the hero of Edmonton! I won't lose!"

With that, she curled her tail like a spring and used it to launch herself and her opponent into the air. Once she was as high as she could go, she flipped herself one hundred and eighty degrees and shouted, "TRAMPOLINE SUPLEX!"

Sure enough, Furfrou was unable to escape and thus the back of her head hit the mat hard. The crowd cheered wildly, Scorbunny and Rillaboom breathing a sigh of relief. And when Vaporeon released her hold, the poodle fell on her back and lay there for a few seconds before Tori exclaimed, "And just as things were looking horrible, Vaporeon finally gets the upper hand with one of her father's best techniques! But is that enough to end the match for good!?"

Vaporeon took many deep breaths before turning to face the other ring. When she saw Drizzile's condition again, she frowned at Morgrem as if to say 'You're next'. The goblin tensed up and trembled only to calm down before a grin formed on her face.

Rolycoly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I knew that wouldn't be enough," Scorbunny and Rillaboom pointing behind Vaporeon. Thus the fox slowly turned to see that her move had not been enough to defeat Furfrou.

The poodle took a deep breath and dusted herself off before saying, "Not bad. It seems you do have fight in you after all. But did you really think one impressive move would be enough to take moi down?"

Deep down, Vaporeon knew that would not be enough, but she really hoped it would be. With the big holes in her shoulders and blood still pouring out, she knew she could not last much longer. Even so, she gritted her teeth and growled, "If that won't defeat you, maybe this will!"

She leapt off the mat and flipped vertically, encasing her tail in an orb made of water. She then reduced the temperature of her tail and turned it into ice while she barked, "BOUNCING ICE BALL!"

Unlike Obstagoon, Furfrou was unable to stop the incoming ice ball from striking her forehead hard. Her teeth were gritted and her eyes were wide open while blood trickled from that very spot. However, much to everyone's shock, she continued to stand, and it was soon made clear why when Scorbunny gasped, "Look!" and directed everyone's attention to black spikes jutting out of the very spot that had been hit.

Vaporeon tensed up when Furfrou grabbed her tail and said, "I'm glad you were somewhat of a challenge in the end after all. It makes my inevitable victory all the more satisfying," before she lifted Vaporeon up, swung her arms down and slammed her back into the canvas.

Vaporeon's eyes and mouth were wide open while blood flew from her mouth. Furfrou proceeded to leap high above her opponent and cup her feet together. She spread her ears out like the blades of a pinwheel and formed holes on the red fur surrounding her feet, releasing more needles like the ones on her wrists. She then folded her arms and spun like a drill, descending toward Vaporeon and shouting, "PERCEUSE A ROUE!"

Vaporeon released tears and thought, 'I'm sorry, Mommy. I couldn't beat her in the end,' Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Allie watching in horror while Furfrou planted her ankle needles into the fox's gut and continued to spin. Blood flew from her like a fountain while the audience watched in horror, Wendy clasping her hands over her mouth while Brian covered his eyes.

Vaporeon tried her hardest to hang on. But ultimately, she had taken in far too much damage. As such, her eyes closed and her arms went limp. And when Furfrou saw this, she ended her assault and leapt off of the fox, retracting her needles and smirking down at her.

"Do you see this, Edmonton?" she asked while she pointed at Vaporeon, "Your hero has lost! And before you say anything, I can guarantee those two won't last long either!" before she directed everyone's attention toward Scorbunny and Rillaboom.

Scorbunny bit her lower lip and narrowed her eyelids before barking, "Cram it!" tears falling from her eyes, "You just got lucky, that's all! Go ahead and face me right now! I'll take you out in a matter of seconds!"

Furfrou smirked and said, "Well, considering I did just finish a match, you might not be too far off, but that hardly seems fair. But I would like to see if you are truly worthy of facing me. Therefor I will give you the chance to avenge your partner in crime."

"Does that mean I get to beat her up too?" Morgrem enquired with a fiendish grin before Furfrou nodded and replied, "But of course. And since Rolycoly hasn't had a turn yet, I feel like he may as well prove his worth against your primate friend over there."

The golem turned to face Rillaboom while the gorilla glared down at him and planted her fist against her palm. Rolycoly had to admit that her size was rather intimidating, but even so, he refused to let his leader down. As such, he gave an army salute and waited for Furfrou to approach him and take hold of the rope that bound Allie.

But just as he was about to wheel over to the ring, Furfrou said, "I would much rather have you all start your matches at the same time, so while Morgrem recovers from her match, you can work on an entrance," the golem smiling and giving an army salute, wheeling off to a private area.

Rillaboom frowned and figured she may as well do the same while Morgrem shrugged and said, "I don't see the point. I wasn't kidding when I said his blows barely hurt. I'll gladly fight that bunny right now," Scorbunny retorting, "What was that!?"

"I admire your enthusiasm," Furfrou replied, "But I would much rather have you fight at full strength, so go take a breather in the back."

The goblin shrugged and exited the area, though she intended to do more than just rest while medics entered the area and loaded both Drizzile and Vaporeon onto stretchers. Allie watched them take the chameleon out of the area and bit her lower lip, whimpering, "You only got hurt because of me. I'm so sorry, Drizzile."

Furfrou gave her an odd look before Scorbunny shook her head and replied reassuringly, "Don't blame yourself, Allie. I'm sure he would have fought even if you weren't in danger," not realizing just how off the mark she was.

Thankfully, though, her words were enough to calm Allie down just a little bit. Even so, the stakes were certainly high as the rabbit headed into the same area as Rillaboom to prepare for her match. If both of them lost, Edmonton was doomed.


	5. Chapter 5

What had started off as a great day had gone dark just like that. Not only had Drizzile's new friend, Allie been kidnapped, but now the chameleon and Vaporeon had been defeated and were in the infirmary. This left Rillaboom and Scorbunny to take on all three villains.

Rillaboom took many deep breaths and prepared herself an entrance that would blow everyone away. Not only was she certain she could win, especially against someone as short as Rolycoly, but she fully intended to make this a true moment to remember.

Scorbunny, all the while, looked in a mirror and took many deep breaths. For the first time in her life, she felt nervous, especially after seeing just how strong Morgrem really was. She figured no one could be as frightening as Obstagoon, but it seemed that was not the case.

When Rillaboom noticed this, she smiled and said, "Hey, Scorbunny, don't look so down," the rabbit facing her as she added, "We'll just have to do our absolute best, alright? They won't take us down."

The rabbit sported a serious expression and nodded before she clenched her fists and squeaked, "Right!" practising her high kick before spotting a basket of sports equipment, coming up with the perfect entrance.

Morgrem had grown impatient while she paced back and forth, grumbling, "Come on! Just announce my name so I can dazzle the crowd already!" Rolycoly sighing, "I don't mind waiting."

The goblin raised her eyebrow and remarked, "Okay, what's going on here?" only for the golem to tense up and whimper, "Come on, you saw how big that monkey was! How do I know she won't pound me into dust!?"

Rolycoly trembled while Morgrem took a deep breath and walked over to him. She placed her hand gently against his head before tightening her grip on it. His eyes widened and he gritted his teeth while she stated, "Come on! You're better than that! You know you are! Furfrou chose you to fight her! She wouldn't do that if she didn't know you could win, would she!?"

"Uh, well, now that you mention it-" Rolycoly uttered only for the goblin to get up in his face and ask, "Who's my super amazing partner?"

The golem stared at her before turning away and murmuring, "Me," Morgrem repeating, "Who's my super amazing partner?"

"Me," Rolycoly replied with a light smile. The goblin smirked and asked the same question one last time and received the same answer, only now her ally was fully confident as he clenched his fists and narrowed his eyelids with a grin.

"Oh yeah, that stupid monkey will wish she never stepped into the ring with me!" he shouted before letting out a fierce battle cry, Morgrem clapping her hands over her head and cheering for him.

After the hour had passed, Brian and Wendy were ready to cheer for the remaining heroes. Allie bit her lower lip, really hoping these two could win. There was no way Drizzile and Vaporeon's efforts would be in vain.

Tori once again sat behind her desk and exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it is time for the next pair of matches to take place! Hopefully these won't be the last matches for the evening, though they might be! While the heroes started with higher numbers than the villains, it would seem the forces of evil outnumber them now! Let's hope that these last two can turn the tides back in our favour!"

Furfrou folded her arms and smirked while she thought, 'I'm certain my allies will come out on top. I chose them perfectly for this match! I could tell from their matches with Vaporeon and her friends that these two so-called heroes cannot hope to win!'

"Starting us off in the red corner are our heroes!" Tori stated, "Like Drizzile, they once started off on the side of evil but now fight to protect us! One is a fiery rabbit with a ferocity that far exceeds her stature! The other is a menacing simian who's just as powerful as she looks! Give it up for Scorbunny and Rillaboom!"

The crowd cheered wildly while Scorbunny raced toward the ring wearing a red headband around the bottoms of her ears and blue ankle braces. She bounced twice before she leapt high into the air, landed hard against the ring's surface and released a fierce battle cry.

Rillaboom, meanwhile, marched toward the stage with a drum strapped to her chest. She used two drumsticks to create a military beat, a serious look plastered on her face. When she approached the ring, she set the drum down and used it like a stair to walk into the ring, the crowd truly loving both entrances.

The gorilla smiled and let down a light teardrop. Even though she had expected it, she still could not believe that the citizens of Edmonton would cheer for her. It was an incredible feeling, and Scorbunny soaked it in as well while blowing kisses to the audience.

Of course, Brian gave them both thumbs up. Wendy, all the while, waved her fist forward and shouted, "MAKE THEM PAY!"

Once the cheers died down, Tori pointed at the other end of the field and shouted, "And in the blue corner are Furfrou's partners in crime! One is a spooky spectre who can scare the daylights out of even the toughest of men! The other is a warrior made entirely out of coal whose skills are yet to be seen! I present Morgrem and Rolycoly!"

The crowd was ready to boo them only to stare in stunned silence when Morgrem rode in on Rolycoly's back as if the golem was a motorcycle. Furfrou stared at this and thought, 'I was hoping for something more intimidating.'

When the two closed in on the rings, Morgrem leapt toward her ring only for her ankle to snag on the top rope. This caused her to fall forward and land flat on her face, the crowd not even sure whether to laugh or not. After all, she had proven herself a genuine threat before.

Even so, Rolycoly could not help but screech to a halt before staring in horror, barking, "MORGREM!" only for the goblin to push herself up to her feet and give him a thumb up with a grin on her face.

Scorbunny stared at this and thought, 'Wow, they really do care about each other just like me and my friends. I wonder if they're really all that bad.'

Rillaboom was much more focused on Rolycoly while he rolled up a ramp that had been set up against the side of the ring for him. She folded her arms and said, "Even though you serve the side of evil, I have to admit, I find it impressive that you can fight without feet."

"Oh, why, I don't know what to say," Rolycoly uttered, pushing his fingertips together with a nervous look in his eyes and his lips puckered. However, he quickly regained focus when Furfrou snapped, "Don't let her distract you! The fact that she's buttering you up means she knows she can't win!"

This alone gave the golem even more of a confidence boost than Morgrem's words earlier. Thus he could not resist the urge to flex and smirk, grunting, "Flattery will get you nowhere, monkey! I'm bad to the bone and that's all there is to it!"

The gorilla blinked and thought, 'But I was being sincere,' before shrugging her shoulders and readying herself. After all, this was still a serious fight between good and evil. She could not allow herself to let the people of Edmonton down.

Once all four fighters were ready, Tori nodded and exclaimed, "Without further ado, let's begin!" ringing the bell thus signalling the start of both matches.

Morgrem immediately leapt toward Scorbunny only for her to notice the same sloppy approach she had taken when she fought Drizzile. And while the chameleon's counter may have failed, she had a feeling hers would work. As such, she leapt backward and threw her paws back, using them as leverage. Then when Morgrem was close enough, she sent her feet upward and into her gut.

The goblin's eyes and mouth were wide with shock as she backed up and held onto the spot that had been hit. And it did not end there when Scorbunny propelled herself into the air and rammed the heels of her feet into Morgrem's chin. The crowd cheered while the goblin backed up and thought, 'She's a lot stronger than that lizard.'

Rolycoly saw this, close his eyes and thought, 'No, I can't worry about her. I know she'll still win this match. I just need to focus on mine,' Rillaboom waiting for him to make the first move. She figured there was no way someone of his stature would be that much of a challenge, but she could not be too careful.

The golem took a deep breath and sped toward her with his arms out. And when the gorilla attempted to grab him, her eyes widened when he sped right past her hands. And sure enough, his arms made contact with her ankles and caused her to fall forward, her chin hitting the mat while Rolycoly zoomed to the other end of the ring and stopped himself from hitting the ropes.

Furfrou smirked while Rolycoly turned to face his opponent. He simply could not believe it. With only one move, he had managed to knock down an opponent three times his size.

Either way, there was no way he would pass up this opportunity, thus he used his hands to propel himself into the air and onto Rillaboom's back. The gorilla grunted from the pain before he rolled his wheel against the spot he had landed on, shouting, "MEDIEVAL SHARPENER!"

Scorbunny had just sent a roundhouse into Morgrem's cheek when she heard Rillaboom cry out in agonizing pain. She then turned and gasped when she saw the position she was in. And this was just enough for Morgrem to latch onto her neck from behind and say, "Word to the wise. Don't turn your back to your opponent."

She then leapt backward and planted the back of Scorbunny's head into the canvas. But just as it looked like the goblin had the upper hand, the rabbit ignored the pain and tucked her legs in, sending her feet into her back and causing her to let go.

The rabbit glanced back at Rillaboom before gritting her teeth and turning back to face Morgrem. She took a deep breath and grunted, "I know Rillaboom can get the upper hand! Right now, I need to focus on finishing what Drizzile started!" leaping toward Morgrem and aiming her heel toward her face.

Furfrou folded her arms and glared at the goblin thus giving her an idea. As such, she smirked and spun her body around. And when Scorbunny was close enough, her eyes widened when Morgrem's hair sharpened and formed the shape of a blade. And things only got worse when the goblin used it to put a big slash into the rabbit's foot.

Blood flew out of the cut that formed as Scorbunny cried out in agonizing pain and fell on her back. She tried her hardest not to let the pain get to her but found herself unable to, thus Morgrem took full advantage of that and leapt over her. She then smirked and spun her body around like a buzz saw, shouting, "GRIZZLY SCIMITAR!"

This put a big gash in the rabbit's belly while she cried out in more pain, the crowd watching in horror. And it only looked worse when Rillaboom tried her hardest to get up only to find Rolycoly to be a lot heavier than he looked. And all the while, Brian and Wendy hugged one-another and trembled, fearing the worst.

"Excellent," Furfrou said with her arms folded and a light smile on her face, "Keep up the geniale work, mes amis," before thinking, 'Oui, I truly made the right choice. Morgrem may not always think straight, but her speed and agility make her a parfaite match for someone as fast as Scorbunny. Meanwhile, Rolycoly's small stature might not make him the best at taking in pain, but he can still dish out a lot and avoid being hit by those who are bigger than he is. This will be over soon.'

However, when Morgrem jabbed the tip of her hair into Scorbunny's gut and shouted, "GRIZZLY SPEAR!" causing more blood to fly out, Rillaboom's eyes widened before she gritted her teeth and spat, "NO!"

She then used all her might to arch her back up and force Rolycoly to fly off of her back. The golem's eyes widened with terror when she turned around and reached out to grab him only for him to point his wheel at her and shout, "MEDIEVAL SHARPENER!"

He then spun his wheel just in time to graze the palm of her hand and distance himself from her, burn marks now on the spot he had hit earlier. Even so, the gorilla was back on her feet and she refused to let him take advantage of her again.

Scorbunny tilted her head back and saw this. As such, a look of confidence formed on her face as she lifted her arms up and took hold of Morgrem's hair, growling, "That's an impressive skill you got there, but it's not enough to defeat me!"

She then stood up and turned around before she lifted Morgrem up. The goblin's eyes widened with shock when the rabbit applied all her might into her throw and slammed her skull into the canvas, the crowd cheering wildly. Brian and Wendy smiled wide and breathed a sigh of relief while Allie smiled and thought, 'Wow, they're amazing.'

But just as Morgrem had started to lose faith, she turned and noticed Scorbunny breathing rather heavily while she panted, "That's right, I don't use slam moves because they take so much out of me," Furfrou smirking and nodding at Morgrem.

Rolycoly, all the while, was not quite as confident when Rillaboom cracked her knuckles and growled, "You've had your little moment to shine, but now you're gonna pay!" holding up her fist only for the golem to gasp and speed forward fast enough to avoid it.

He then smiled and thought, 'Now I get why Furfrou chose me to face the monkey,' using his hands to propel himself upward and ram his skull into Rillaboom's gut. The gorilla backed up and rubbed her tummy with a look of irritation on her face.

Now all fear he had before had left him as a wicked grin crossed his face. He pounded his fists together and said, "Oh, thank you so much, Furfrou. You couldn't have picked a better opponent for me. This is great!"

Needless to say, Allie's fear rose while Rolycoly continued to deliver blow after blow to Rillaboom. Despite her best efforts to strike him, she could not match his speed. And now that Scorbunny had exhausted herself throwing Morgrem, the goblin had regained the upper hand with two karate chops to her shoulders and another slash from her hair. Blood spewed from the rabbit's chest while she coughed up some of the liquid in question and fell on her back.

The girl could not believe this. She thought for sure the heroes of Tokyo could save her and everyone else. And yet despite their best efforts, it truly seemed lost. Scorbunny had started strong but now looked as if she was on the verge of death while Rillaboom was yet to land a single blow on Rolycoly.

Furfrou saw the fear in Allie's eyes and smirked before saying, "You are right to be afraid. The heroes of Edmonton are all talk. But is this really so surprising? After all, if the hero who defeated them couldn't win, what chance could they have possibly had?"

Allie bit her lower lip while Morgrem stomped on Scorbunny's wound and shifted her foot back and forth and Rolycoly continued to pummel Rillaboom with one headbutt after the next. However, she also remembered their fight with Obstagoon. All three had come close to failure but ultimately came out on top, and right now, the girl had to have faith in them.

And it certainly seemed like they would need all the support they could get. While it may not have appeared that way at first, both of them had heard Furfrou's words that time. Scorbunny closed her eyes and let down tears, wondering if they really were cut out to be heroes.

After taking in a strike to her forehead and falling on her back, Rillaboom gazed up at the sky while Rolycoly leapt onto her gut and spat, "MEDIEVAL SHARPENER!" scraping his wheel along her once again. Only this time, she did not even try to fight it.

Seeing this, Allie took a deep breath and narrowed her eyelids before barking, "Come on, guys!" Scorbunny slowly turning to face her while Rillaboom ignored the pain to her gut, "Stop letting them walk all over you! Drizzile and Vaporeon fought to the bitter end despite everything going against them! Are you really going to allow yourselves to suffer the same fate!? You may have started off on the side of evil, but you're awesome heroes now! You had everything going against you yesterday and yet you still won!"

Rillaboom stared for a few seconds before a frown formed on her face. As such, she lifted up one arm and swung it toward Rolycoly only for him to propel himself up off of her belly. This was all she needed as she pushed herself up with her free hand and sent her foot upward into his chin.

Rolycoly's eyes and mouth were wide with shock as Rillaboom could tell this did more damage to him than any of the moves he had dealt to her. And with that in mind, she pushed herself upright and latched onto his hands with both of hers. She then lifted him up and swung her arms down, ramming his face into the canvas.

Morgrem turned away from Scorbunny and gasped, "ROLYCOLY!" Furfrou barking, "IDIOTE! PAY ATTENTION!" only for the rabbit to take hold of the goblin's ankle. While she could not afford to throw her again, she was at least able to twist her ankle, thus she did just that before Morgrem cried out in pain and fell on her side.

The rabbit rose to her feet and took many deep breaths, smirking and exclaiming, "I'll admit, Morgrem, you've been a tough opponent, but you never had a chance!" before leaping backward into the ropes and stretching them back.

The crowd watched in anticipation, Brian and Wendy smiling wide while her right foot burst into flame. She then launched herself toward Morgrem and pointed her heel outward, shouting, "BURNING ROCKET!"

Morgrem readied her hair but was too slow to react. Thus she took the kick to her gut hard and coughed up blood, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. The crowd cheered wildly while she flew hard into the turnbuckle, Scorbunny's foot still up against her.

Before Rolycoly could even attempted to get the upper hand back, Rillaboom tossed him into the air and leapt backward, performing a handstand. She then propelled herself up to his level and latched her feet into his sides. She leaned backward, aiming his face toward the canvas while he cried out in terror and waved his arms around, shouting, "NO!" repeatedly.

Sure enough, his face hit the surface hard and his arms went limp. And when his eyes rolled to the back of his head and Rillaboom released her hold on him, it was clear that this match was over.

Scorbunny and Rillaboom breathed heavily while they stared at their opponents. Brian bit his lower lip while Wendy smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "I knew they could do it."

Allie beamed bright while Tori nodded and rang the bell, exclaiming, "And that's that, folks! After two very close calls, Scorbunny and Rillaboom have defeated Morgrem and Rolycoly, leaving Furfrou all by herself!"

The entire stadium erupted with cheers and applause from the crowd while Scorbunny had the biggest smile of her life plastered all over her face. Rillaboom grinned at her and gave her a thumb up before nodding her head at Allie. Had it not been for her words of encouragement, they might not have turned things around.

Furfrou tensed up and narrowed her eyelids before she gritted her teeth. She let out a low growl and barked, "Don't act like you've already won! It's just as the announcer lady said! I'm still standing, meaning you still have to go through moi!"

Rillaboom frowned and grunted, "Yeah, we haven't forgotten, but now you're outnumbered. Do you really think you can defeat us both?" the poodle smirking and remarking, "Oui. I'll take both of you out easily, starting with you!" pointing at Scorbunny.

The rabbit stood there silently for a few seconds before shrugging and replying, "Alright. Name the time and place," Furfrou nodding and saying, "Very well. We shall fight at nine PM right here."

Allie turned to her and snapped, "WHAT!?" Brian barking, "Hey, that's less than an hour from now! That's hardly fair!"

The crowd talked amongst themselves only for Furfrou to reveal her needles and point them at Allie's neck. The girl tensed up while the poodle spun them around like a drill, saying, "Refuse and the hostage dies."

Scorbunny gasped, "WAIT!" holding out her paw with her eyes wide open, "I'll do it! I'll fight you at nine! Just please don't kill her!"

Rillaboom frowned and folded her arms, thinking, 'I can't believe she'd actually resort to such an underhanded tactic. She seems too good for that. Is she really that scared of us?'

While deep down, Furfrou was confident that she could defeat them at full strength, she had not expected both of her allies to lose. As such, she felt like she had to take full advantage of the injuries both heroes had suffered during their matches. Sure, she had given them a chance to rest up, but it was just as Brian said. There was no way that would be enough. Needless to say, Scorbunny would need to fight better than ever to win this match.


	6. Chapter 6

Scorbunny was currently in the same secluded area that she had gone to in order to prepare her entrance. After having come so close to death, she felt winded. A part of her even felt like she would surely lose this match.

While she rested on a bench, she looked up when Brian and Wendy entered with a light smiles on their faces. Wendy bowed her head and said, "You were incredible back there," before Brian nodded and added, "Oh, yes. That comeback was amazing. I really thought it was over."

Scorbunny rubbed the back of her head with a cute grin and replied, "Well, thank you. Your gratitude makes it all worth it," chuckling nervously.

She did not even have the heart to mention how low her chances of success were. But even if she lost, there was no way she would back out without so much as trying. As such, she smiled with confidence and said, "You have nothing to worry about. Your daughter's as good as saved."

"Oh, I don't doubt that one bit," Brian replied with a grin, "We just want you to know that we're supporting you all the way."

Wendy nodded and was about to say something but figured it might be for the best that she not continue this conversation further. Instead, she thought of something else and asked, "How would you and your friends like to come to our place for dinner after this is all over? It's the least we can do."

The rabbit stared in shock at this. These people were so nice. Much like Rillaboom, she found it absolutely amazing to have this much support after everyone cheered for her defeat not too long ago. Now she was absolutely certain that even if she failed, she could at least weaken Furfrou so much that Rillaboom could not possibly fail to finish what she started.

As such, she nodded with fire in her eyes and said, "I'm looking forward to it."

Rillaboom all the while sat on a chair outside of the ring while the first one was removed from the area. After all, there was no reason to have it around anymore. But even so, she could not help but worry about Scorbunny, especially after she saw Allie's parents enter the area she had gone to rest. She could not help but think about how much pressure she likely had on her shoulders now.

Of course, this was mainly because the gorilla herself felt a huge weight had been put on her as well. A part of her felt lucky that she had been given an opponent who could barely handle pain. Had Rolycoly's resistance been stronger, she just knew that she would have lost. And if Scorbunny failed, who was to say she would be in good enough condition to defeat Furfrou in her place?

Either way, the hour soon passed and the audience was fully focused. Scorbunny exited the training facility and marched toward the ring only to stop in her tracks when she noticed that Allie had been bound to the side of the ring. Just as she was about to say something, Furfrou stated, "Before you ask, I simply had to make sure she didn't try to get away."

Rillaboom frowned and growled, "Why do you still need her anyway!? We already agreed to your terms! Just let her go!" Allie nodding her head only for the poodle to sigh, "Well, it is true I mostly used her to lure you to moi, but unless one of you wins this match, she is still my hostage."

Wendy gritted her teeth and barked, "If only I was stronger! I could go in there and save her myself!" Brian patting her on the shoulder and sighing, "Yeah, I know you would."

Scorbunny frowned and thought, 'Well, whether this bitch plays by the rules or not, she's going down. She may be a lot more dangerous than she looks, but I can still beat her, even in my condition. After all, I'm a hero now. I can't let her intimidate me.'

With that in mind, she bounced twice before propelling herself high into the air and landing in the ring. The crowd's excitement grew when she threw her arms out in a dramatic fashion. Even Tori could just feel the intensity despite how simple the entrance was.

Furfrou folded her arms and examined her opponent up and down. And it was just as she suspected. After only an hour, Scorbunny had barely recovered at all. The gash on her front side was still there and she had bruises all over her. There was no way this match would last longer than two minutes, Furfrou was sure of it.

And so, Tori nodded and exclaimed, "Well, we've waited long enough! Let's begin!" ringing the bell before Scorbunny bolted toward Furfrou without any hesitation.

'Oh, you're making this too easy,' the poodle thought when the rabbit knelt down and slid toward her with her foot out. Sure enough, Furfrou easily jumped over the incoming kick. Scorbunny's eyes went wide as the poodle descended and planted her feet into her gut.

The crowd gasped when the rabbit coughed up blood, none of them able to believe it had been that easy. Sure, she had taken in a lot of punishment earlier, but they did not think it had been that bad. And of course, this was all Furfrou needed to see just to know how little of a challenge this match would be.

She formed the holes in the lowest rings of fur around her ankles, revealing her needles made of her own flesh. The crowd gasped in terror while Scorbunny felt them pierce her belly, whimpering and squirming to free herself. Rillaboom stared in horror and spat, "SCORBUNNY, GET UP!" while Allie and her parents watched in horror.

Furfrou smirked and said, "You would have been better off if you had just chickened out and surrendered," her rings spinning like drills while the needles continued to dig into Scorbunny's skin.

The rabbit cried out in agony while blood spewed from her and the poodle exclaimed, "AIGUILLE BATTEURS!" Tori stating, "And in only a matter of seconds, Scorbunny is in serious trouble as Furfrou unleashes the same terrifying ability that gave Vaporeon her lovely new shoulder holes!"

"Did she have to say it like that?" Wendy grumbled with her arms folded, "It's like she doesn't even take this seriously," Brian too focused on his daughter's safety to care about that.

Rillaboom gritted her teeth and clenched her fists before she noticed something odd. While Scorbunny had screamed at first, she soon stopped and lifted up her arms. She then took hold of Furfrou's ankles and ignored the burns that formed on her palms as a result. And much like when Vaporeon did this earlier, this caused the red fur to stop spinning while the poodle's eye twitched.

Sure enough, Scorbunny took full advantage of the distraction and threw her arms forward thus causing Furfrou to back up and fall on her rear. This was all the rabbit needed, thus she propelled herself high into the air and lit her feet on fire, descending toward her opponent with her heels pointed toward her gut.

The crowd went wild when she managed to connect the blow, shouting, "SCORCHING ANVIL!" Furfrou's eyes and mouth wide with shock while she released a cough of her own.

Scorbunny backed up and took many deep breaths before wiping the blood off of her lower lip. She then patted the sides of her face and pretended there were no holes on her torso. Disadvantage or none, she could not allow herself to lose this easily.

Furfrou climbed to her feet and grunted, "Don't act so tough. You got lucky," only for Rillaboom to give Scorbunny a thumb up and exclaim, "Don't listen to her! That was awesome! Keep it up!"

The crowd along with Allie and her parents certainly agreed, and this showed when they all shouted words of encouragement. Once again, Scorbunny could not help but smile at this. But even so, she knew she had to stay focused. She could not allow herself to fall victim to another move like that, at least not yet.

While Furfrou tried her best to act tough before, Scorbunny's attitude had started to annoy her now. She narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'How can she have so much spirit? I hate to admit it, but that counter earlier was not luck. Something is driving her forward even though by all accounts, that one move should have killed her. Perhaps I underestimated this group. They may be able to handle more punishment than expected.'

Even so, the poodle would not allow Scorbunny to strike her again. As such, she held up her guard and readied herself for whatever else was in store. The rabbit took one last breath before racing forward again.

'She's seriously trying this a second-' Furfrou thought only for her train to be cut off when Scorbunny dashed beside her and sent a roundhouse into her side. The poodle gasped when the rabbit swerved behind her and leapt into the air. She then took hold of her ears and lit her feet on fire, shouting, "BUNNY BLAZE KICK!" ramming her heels hard into the back of her neck.

The crowd went wild while Furfrou fell forward and landed chin-first into the canvas. Tori stared silently for a few seconds before clearing her throat and stating, "What we have just witnessed is truly incredible, folks! Not only has Scorbunny gotten the upper hand back, but she has also just used what I can only describe as a new take on a classic move, specifically the Torch Family's infamous Blaze Kick! Though while that involves the user ramming his or her feet into the opponent's back, this version looks even more powerful as Scorbunny just used a much stronger part of the foot on a weaker part of the body! Needless to say, we cannot underestimate this little hero!"

Furfrou growled when Scorbunny leapt off of her and slowly rose to her feet, turning to face the rabbit with pure fury in her expression. However, after a few seconds, she took a deep breath and smirked before saying, "So you couldn't even come up with an original move, eh? You had to steal from someone else?"

"First off, it's not stealing," Scorbunny remarked with a smirk, "Most people learn from others. And it's just like Miss Tori said. I put my own spin on it. But can you blame me for wanting to learn it anyway?"

Furfrou and Allie both stared silently while the rabbit held her paws up to her cheeks and ran in place, squealing, "I grew up watching old fight footage of Blaziken! Whenever she won a match, she would often use that move to deliver the finishing blow! She's like an idol to me!"

Rillaboom blinked and uttered, "Wait, so you based your signature moves off of hers?" Furfrou shaking her head and barking, "If she's an idol to you, why did you even join the side of evil in the first place!?" the rabbit chuckling nervously and rubbing the back of her head, uttering, "Maybe it's a good thing she's not alive anymore. She'd be so ashamed of me if she knew what I planned to use her techniques for."

She then shook her head and uttered, "Oh, right, the match," she and Furfrou fully focused again.

Scorbunny once again raced toward her opponent. However, Furfrou was truly prepared now. And sure enough, when the rabbit dashed to the side and attempted another roundhouse, the poodle took hold of her ankle and swung her into the turnbuckle. The rabbit winced but tried to ignore the pain before seeing an opportunity and taking hold of the ropes.

She then lifted herself up and launched herself forward, aiming a kick toward the poodle's chest only for her to dodge to the right and hold out her arm just in time to wrap it around the rabbit's waist. The crowd stared when Furfrou lifted Scorbunny up and slammed her into the canvas. And with the rabbit on her back, Furfrou lifted up her leg and planted her foot into her gut, saying, "I'll give you credit. You lasted longer than expected, but now I've seen through you."

"Seen through me?" Scorbunny remarked, "What are you talking about?" raising her arms only for the poodle to mount herself over her and pin her down with her knees.

"You have some impressive moves, but they're much more limited than those of your allies," Furfrou explained, "It took me a while to realize it, but all you can do is use your feet. You yourself even said that you can't afford to use any advanced techniques. And now that I know the Torch Family is your inspiration, I can safely say that you never stood a chance."

Scorbunny was about to at least try to fight off her opponent, but these words made her hesitate. She stared into Furfrou's eyes with a look of anger and growled, "What do you mean!? The Torch family's amazing!"

The poodle chuckled before breaking out into hysterics and barking, "Are you serieuse right now!? They all had the exact same handicap that you have! None of them could pull off advanced techniques without straining themselves, so they always relied on the most basic of martial arts moves! They're a joke and so are you! You got lucky against Morgrem, that's all!"

Rillaboom gritted her teeth and barked, "ARE YOU GONNA LET HER TALK TO YOU LIKE THAT!?" Scorbunny biting her lower lip with a look of uncertainty on her face.

Deep down, she always knew that the Torch Family did not have the best skills. And when Furfrou saw this, she grinned wickedly and formed holes in the fur around her wrists, lashing out her needles and spinning the fur once again. But just as she was about to lower them, the rabbit frowned and barked, "CAN IT!"

Allie and Rillaboom both stared with their eyes sparkling when Scorbunny lifted up her legs and swung her feet sideways into Furfrou's ribcage. The poodle winced in pain while the rabbit continued to strike her, barking, "That's why the Torch Family is amazing! Yeah, their move set was always limited to punches, kicks and submission holds! They couldn't afford to pull off something like a piledriver or a brainbuster or even a suplex!"

Many members of the crowd started to form light smiles while she continued, "And yet despite that handicap, they always fought to the bitter end! All that mattered to them was coming out on top, and if you haven't heard, Scorchicken, Blaziken's granddaughter, became the world champion! Don't you ever call them a joke again!"

Allie smiled and thought, 'Wow, she's so cool,' letting down a light tear while Brian and Wendy cheered for the rabbit. Rillaboom, all the while, folded her arms and smirked, thinking, 'Her fighting spirit really is amazing.'

Furfrou realized that she could not afford to let Scorbunny fight any longer. She had already performed far better than expected. And as such, the poodle ignored the pain to her ribs and spun the fur around her wrists, barking, "MELANGEUR A AIGUILLES!"

She then sent her arms downward, planting the needles into Scorbunny's shoulders. The crowd gasped as she cried out in pain, Allie staring in horror when it seemed as if the rabbit could no longer muster up the strength to keep up her assault. However, there was no way she would allow it to end like this and thus she gritted her teeth and tilted her feet sideways, resting them up against Furfrou's back.

The poodle had a look of irritation when Scorbunny used all her might to push herself into the air and swing her feet downward, planting Furfrou's upper back into the canvas. But while this did ultimately cause the poodle to remove her needles from the rabbit's shoulders, she could already tell that was the last hit she would fall victim to.

Scorbunny breathed heavily while her body twitched all over. Rillaboom blinked and asked, "Are you okay?" Allie equally concerned.

Furfrou could tell she had won, but even so, she also knew she could not delay this any further. As such, she frowned and pushed herself up, kicking Scorbunny hard in the chin and knocking her on her back. She then leapt into the air and folded her arms, spreading out her ears and revealing the needles on her ankles again.

She cupped her feet together and spun like a twister before descending toward her downed opponent and barking, "PERCEUSE A ROUE!"

Everyone else in the area watched in horror when Furfrou made contact with Scorbunny's gut, blood flying out of her like a fountain while she released one last cry of pain. And while Vaporeon had lasted a while against this move, Scorbunny could handle no more and thus coughed up one last bit of blood and passed out.

Her eyes were closed and her leg twitched. But sure enough, that twitch soon stopped before Allie, her parents and Rillaboom all stared with their eyes and mouths wide open. Even after all of her efforts, the match still turned out exactly as Furfrou had expected.

Rillaboom wasted no time climbing into the ring and running over to Scorbunny. Allie trembled while the gorilla knelt down and tensed up. The rabbit was not moving. She did not even let out a single breath.

"No," the gorilla uttered while she shook her head, Furfrou smirking wickedly while Allie uttered, "She's gonna be alright, isn't she?"

Rillaboom knelt down and rested her ear against Scorbunny's chest. And while she heard nothing at first, her eyes opened a bit more when a light thump came from that very spot. When the sound became more frequent, it was clear that the rabbit was still alive, but even so, Rillaboom could not overlook how close she had been to death's door.

As such, she growled and grunted, "Alright, I don't need to prepare an entrance or anything like that!" lifting up Scorbunny and carrying her over to the edge of the ring. She then crouched under the ropes and gently set the bunny down against the side before reeling back and standing upright again. She turned to face Furfrou again and snapped, "Right here, right now! Let's end this!" pounding her fist against her palm.

Furfrou narrowed her eyelids and stroked her chin. While a part of her at least wanted to suggest waiting an extra hour, she too wanted to end all of this. And despite Rillaboom's superior strength and the fact that she had taken in less damage than Scorbunny during her match with Rolycoly, the poodle felt even more confident that she could defeat her even in her current condition.

As such, she smirked and said, "Very well," striking a pose as Rillaboom blinked and uttered, "Wait, you're actually agreeing to my terms?"

Most of the crowd was just as surprised as she was. If anything, they had all expected Furfrou to postpone their match until the next day while using her injuries as an excuse. After all, there had been plenty of villains in the past who had done that sort of thing to make things more fair for them than the heroes.

With that in mind, Allie felt much more confident now. There was no doubt that Rillaboom would win. After all, Scorbunny performed much better than everyone had expected. As far as the girl saw it, Furfrou had just made a terrible mistake.

Either way, Rillaboom was more than ready, thus Tori blinked and said, "Well, um, I guess I can signal the start of the match, then. So, yeah, begin," ringing the bell.

Sure enough, Rillaboom let out a loud battle cry and raced toward Furfrou with her fist raised. But just as she was ready to send a hard punch forward, the poodle smirked and released a big spike from her forehead thus pushing the red fur in front of it forward and ramming it into the gorilla's face, shouting, "PAN FRONT!"

Despite this not being the best move she had shown so far, this was still enough to draw blood from Rillaboom's nostrils. As such, even though it was not much, the crowd could tell this might not be as easy for the gorilla as they first thought.


	7. Chapter 7

Rillaboom had started her match with Furfrou with almost everything going in her favour. And yet just one blow to her face left her open for more strikes. And of course the poodle took full advantage of this as she unleashed an onslaught of palm punches.

Rillaboom growled and sent a punch toward Furfrou only for her to sidestep it with ease and reveal her wrist needles. She then planted them into the gorilla's fist and shouted, "MELANGEUR A AIGUILLES!"

Rillaboom winced in pain while trying her hardest not to let out a loud cry or anything of the sort. She did not wish to give Furfrou the satisfaction, thus she pried her arm away from the spinning needles and breathed heavily, staring at the bleeding hole that had formed on her hand.

Furfrou smirked and readied herself for whatever else Rillaboom had in store as the crowd watched with fear in their eyes. While Scorbunny had at least gotten in a couple of decent hits, Rillaboom had already taken in one of the poodle's strongest moves without having landed a blow herself.

As such, she took a deep breath and patted her cheeks. She could not allow this to get to her nor could she afford to waste all of Scorbunny's efforts. With that in mind, she looked back to her fight with Obstagoon and thought about how she managed to get the upper hand against him.

While it was a bit of a gamble, she had not been able to harm him until she willingly fell victim to one of his moves. And even though she had not quite planned for it to work that way, she had also managed to finally land a hit on Rolycoly after she allowed him to go to town on her belly. As such, she knew what she had to do.

She once again raced toward Furfrou, this time with her elbow pointed forward. The poodle let out a sigh and said, "You're even more pathetique than I thought. This will be easy," swaying to the right.

Rillaboom followed her movements only to notice that the poodle did nothing after she dodged. This caught her off guard and left her wide open for a palm punch to the cheek. She stumbled sideways slightly while Tori stated, "And Rillaboom just can't catch a break! Furfrou continues to pummel her while she still struggles to land so much as one blow on her!"

Rillaboom took a deep breath and thought, 'That was a fluke. Maybe I'll goat her into coming close to me,' before striking a pose and purposely leaving herself open to a full frontal assault. She was prepared to deal with whatever Furfrou dished out next.

If she used either of her long ranged moves, the gorilla would simply grab her flesh and hurl her into the canvas. And if she attacked at close range, she would fall victim to the same move Obstagoon did. It was the perfect tactic, or so it seemed.

Once again, Furfrou did not do what Rillaboom had expected. Instead, she went down on all fours, the crowd equally shocked by this before she sprinted behind the gorilla and barked, "PAN DE QUEUE!" extending her tail and ramming the flat part of it into her back.

Things only continued to get worse when Furfrou pounced on Rillaboom from behind and knocked her on her belly. She then opened up the holes around her wrists and ankles, digging the needles into the gorilla's flesh while many members of the crowd winced upon seeing small bits of blood squirt out.

"FOUETTER LES AIGUILLES!" Furfrou barked with a psychotic look in her eyes while the fur attached to her needles spun like beaters. Sure enough, more big holes formed on Rillaboom's flesh and blood spewed out like fountains while she cried out in agonizing pain.

"Oh my god!" Tori exclaimed with fear in her eyes, "As if Rillaboom's suffering earlier wasn't enough, Furfrou catches her off guard with a tactic we have not seen her use yet! And now she has her pinned to the mat as she falls victim to the same move that gave her allies so much trouble again!"

While Furfrou continued her assault, Rillaboom started to release tears before Allie uttered, "Rillaboom, you can beat her, right?" only for Furfrou to sigh, "Non, she can't. Because even though she has the upper hand and the best physical strength of all four heroes stationed in Edmonton, her fighting style is actually quite simple to figure out."

"Wait, did you just say I'm predictable!?" Rillaboom remarked, a part of her now starting to ignore the pain to a certain degree while the poodle sighed, "Exactement. You seem to show signs of intelligence outside of the ring, but once you start fighting, you seem unable to think of bien strategies. You just throw your arms and feet around in the hopes that you'll land a hit and you can only get the upper hand if you know you're about to get hit."

She finally ended her assault and stood up with blood trickling from her wrists and ankles while Allie bit her lip and remembered the footage she saw of Rillaboom and the others' fight with Obstagoon. As much as she wanted to show her support, she was unsure what to say while Wendy snapped, "Come on, Rillaboom! Don't let her get you down! You were amazing against Rolycoly!"

"No I wasn't," Rillaboom retorted with her teeth gritted, "As much as it hurts me to admit it, everything Furfrou just said is true! As much as I'd like to be a better fighter, I'm still just an amateur! Think about it! Even against someone as weak as Rolycoly, I came close to losing because I couldn't think of a good way to hit him! It's a miracle I managed to beat him!"

Furfrou snickered before breaking out into hysterics. Brian bit his lower lip and turned to Wendy, asking, "That's not true, is it? She used strategy, right?"

Allie trembled and closed her eyes while Furfrou sighed, "At least you can admit it. That is an honourable trait, but it means nothing in the grand scheme of things. All that matters is that I have won this match."

"Maybe you have," Rillaboom growled before planting her hands into the canvas and slowly pushing herself up, "But even so, I'm not going to give up nor will I lie here and let you finish me off. If I'm gonna lose this, I'll still try to put up a fight. After all, this match isn't just for me! It's for everyone!"

Furfrou took a deep breath and shook her head before saying, "I would have gladly accepted your surrender, but I guess this will feel more satisfying."

But just as Rillaboom was about to rush forward and just accept her inevitable defeat, Allie frowned and barked, "Hold it, Rillaboom! You are not as reckless as you think!"

Both Rillaboom and Furfrou turned to face her with confusion before the girl added, "It is true that Obstagoon and Rolycoly pretty much dominated you before you purposely let them hit you, but your match with Ben did not play out like that. You clearly did not allow him to hit you before you landed that piledriver."

"But I lost to him," Rillaboom uttered only for Allie to grin and reply, "That doesn't matter. What matters is that you can make good moves without having to rely on the same strategy. I'm confident that you can. You just need to stop trying to fight like you did against the opponents you defeated. Stop looking to the past for ideas and think about what would work now."

Furfrou continued to stare at the girl as if she was crazy. And while some audience members did not entirely understand what she meant, Brian folded his arms and said, "You know, that's a good point. Our little girl's pretty smart, I tell you," Wendy folding her arms and retorting, "Are you saying you didn't think she was?"

Brian laughed nervously in response to this while Rillaboom frowned and thought, 'She's right! In fact, now that I think about it, there were far better tactics I could have used against her moves earlier!'

With that in mind, she smiled and said, "Well, I'm not sure if I can really turn this around, but I'll definitely try," Furfrou sighing, "I liked you better when you were using common sense."

However, her annoyance turned to a smirk when Rillaboom once again rushed toward her with her elbow pointed forward. But when the poodle swerved to the side, Rillaboom threw both of her arms around, thus guaranteeing that at one would ram into Furfrou's gut.

And when the collission happened, Furfrou's eyes and mouth widened with shock as a bit of blood escaped from her mouth. Sure, this had been the first hit Rillaboom landed, but Scorbunny had dealt a lot of damage earlier, so to a certain degree, this made sense.

And of course, this also meant Rillaboom finally had the upper hand. With that in mind, she wrapped the arm that had struck Furfrou around her before reeling her in and latching the other arm to her. She then lifted the poodle up and leaned backward, ramming the back of her head into the canvas while the crowd went wild.

Furfrou growled and struggled to free herself only for the gorilla to propel her feet into the air. She then released her hold on Furfrou thus catching her off guard and causing her to fall on her back. And with the poodle once again vulnerable, Rillaboom descended and planted her butt into her pelvis.

The crowd cheered wildly while Furfrou cried out in pain, Rillaboom rising up off of her and distancing herself just enough. She took many deep breaths and smiled at Allie who returned the gesture and nodded in approval.

"Things were truly looking awful, folks," Tori stated, "But in the end, Rillaboom has managed to get the upper hand with an onslaught of powerful moves."

"An onslaught!?" Furfrou growled while pushing herself back up, "Did you really just call that an onslaught!?" Tori tensing up, "That was no onslaught! That was a few lucky hits, that's all!"

"Well, you're half right," Rillaboom replied, "I wouldn't exactly call three hits an onslaught either, but that was not pure luck. I actually used my brain to pull that off, and I know I can continue to do so for the rest of this match."

The crowd cheered wildly while Brian and Wendy breathed a sigh of relief. While the match had been stressful up to this point, it seemed as if things might turn out for the best in the end after all.

However, Furfrou refused to accept this as she growled, "IF YOU'RE SO GREAT, THEN LET'S SEE YOU DEAL WITH THIS! PAN FRONT!" extending the flesh on her forehead and shooting the red fur forward.

Rillaboom held up her arm to block the incoming projectile with ease before using her free hand to grip the flesh itself. She then used all her might to lift Furfrou up over her head and rammed her skull into the canvas.

Once again, the crowd went wild while Tori continued to announce all of this. However, Furfrou still had one tactic left as she grunted, "Let's see how you handle an attack that you don't see coming!"

She managed to bend her lower body forward just enough to aim her tail at Rillaboom before barking, "PAN DE QUEUE!" once again stretching out her flesh and ramming the flat end into the gorilla's face.

Before Rillaboom could take advantage of this as well, Furfrou immediately retracted her flesh before pushing herself toward the gorilla and aiming her feet toward her shoulders. She then released her needles and started to spin the fur around them while exclaiming, "MELANGEUR A AIGUILLES!"

Sure enough, the needles managed to hit Rillaboom hard, blood flying out and holes forming while the gorilla cried out in pain. But just as the audience was about to cheer, they realized there was no need when Rillaboom smirked and lifted her arms, taking hold of the poodle's ankles.

"Just because I didn't plan for you to hit me doesn't mean I can't take advantage of this," she grunted before she applied all her might and attempted to pry the needles out of her shoulders. Furfrou growled and applied more weight to her own body while everyone watched in anticipation.

"Come on," Allie said with a look of hope, "You're so close. I know you can turn this around," Rillaboom letting out a fierce battle cry and applying all her might before finally forcing the needles out.

While some blood flew out of the holes, Furfrou could tell she had lost now. As such, she grinned nervously and chuckled, "Um, would you let me go if I surrendered?" only for the gorilla to frown and retort, "I don't think so!"

And with that, she leapt into the air and lifted Furfrou up while still gripping her ankles. She then shifted her legs upward and lowered Furfrou while both of them descended. And sure enough, the poodle's back hit the canvas hard as she coughed up one last bit of blood, her eyes rolling to the back of her head before Rillaboom released her hold on her.

All went silent among the crowd while Rillaboom continued to sit on the mat. She rested her hands against it and breathed heavily. Despite all her spirit earlier, she could barely stay awake now while Furfrou lay there unconscious. But even so, the crowd could not help but wonder if this really was enough to end it.

After half a minute, Tori nodded and rang the bell, shouting, "And after a very intense match, Rillaboom is our winner and Edmonton is once again safe!"

Allie released a light tear with a smile on her face, the stadium erupting with cheers and applause. Rillaboom let out a satisfied chuckle and collapsed onto her back with her arms spread out. Now she knew for sure that she was worthy of protecting Edmonton.

Sure enough, Furfrou was dragged away from the area with her hands and feet cuffed together while Brian and Wendy untied their daughter. Once Allie could finally move her arms again, she breathed a sigh of relief and gave her parents a big hug. This had been the scariest experience of her life and she hoped to never deal with that again.

She then turned toward Rillaboom who had regained enough strength to sit upright. Wendy bowed her head and said, "Thank you so much. We owe you our lives for this," only for the gorilla to reply, "Hey, we're heroes. It's what we do," a grin on her face.

She then tried to stand only to wince in pain. As such, Allie gasped, "Don't strain yourself. You have a lot of holes in your skin. We'll take you to the hospital if you'd like."

"No, I should be fine," Rillaboom replied, "The thing with us heroes is that we can handle quite a bit. I'm sure I'll recover from this in no time," before sighing, "I just hope the others are okay."

Her eyes widened with shock when she heard a familiar high-pitched voice retort, "Who do you think you're talking about? Of course we're okay," turning and noticing that both Vaporeon and Drizzile were awake. While Vaporeon still had the holes in her shoulders, they were starting to seal up as she grinned and said, "By the way, I saw your match on a little TV on the ceiling. Good job."

Drizzile, however, was much more focused on Allie right now. As such, he let down tears and ran toward her, holding her lower body in a tight embrace and sniffing, "I'm so sorry I wasn't more of a help to you! Can you ever forgive me!?"

Allie rolled her eyes and patted him atop the head. She then knelt down to his level and sighed, "You were great back there, okay? Don't beat yourself up. You'll do better the next time a villain shows up, I just know it."

The chameleon was not sure about that, but his spirits lifted when she held him in a tight embrace. This was enough to calm his nerves, thus he let out a sigh of relief and returned the gesture.

Rillaboom turned toward Scorbunny who was still asleep against the ring and sighed, "It's a shame she couldn't be awake to enjoy this moment," before Vaporeon nodded and said, "I'm sure she'll be fine. Her match ended about fifteen minutes ago, so she still needs time to recover."

Brian nodded and said, "Well, we did promise we'd treat you all to dinner at our place. Perhaps we should hold off on that until tomorrow," only for Rillaboom to protest, "You really don't have to do that. Again, we were just doing our job."

Vaporeon nodded while Drizzile rubbed his arm, not sure whether he agreed or not. However, Wendy simply shook her head and said, "We didn't offer that because we thought we had to. We offered because we wanted to. Besides, if our daughter's gonna hang out with you during downtime, it would be nice to have you all come over at least once."

Allie's eyes widened before she turned to face her mother. However, she said nothing as she smiled and nodded her head to the others. And of course, Drizzile was the happiest to hear this. Even though he had failed, he was still beyond happy that his new friend was safe and sound. At the end of the day, that was all that really mattered.

With that in mind, all of them headed home. Allie and her family agreed to give them a ride since that would at least be safer than carrying Scorbunny all the way to their house. Vaporeon sat next to the rabbit and allowed her head to rest on her lap, everyone beyond grateful to have this peaceful moment. Even though it might not last, they had definitely earned it.

When the next day came, Scorbunny awoke in bed with yawn around noon. She smacked her lips before widening her eyes, looking around and gasping, "Where am I!?"

When she noticed herself in Vaporeon's bed, she thought, 'Why am I back here?' before jumping out of bed and heading out of the room. She felt her stomach growl and headed for the kitchen where she noticed that Vaporeon had prepared a nice brunch consisting of pancakes, bacon, eggs and toast. And of course, Rillaboom and Drizzile were there as well, all three of them spotting her and smiling.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Vaporeon squealed with a grin before Drizzile breathed a sigh of relief and Rillaboom got up to hold her in a tight embrace. The rabbit's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets as she murmured, "Nice to see you too."

The gorilla released her and chuckled nervously, uttering, "Sorry. We're just really happy to see you up and about," Scorbunny chuckling, "Well, of course I'm okay. It'll take more than a hole to my gut to keep me down," before adding, "Anyway, judging by the brunch, I'm guessing you beat her, Rillaboom?"

"Yeah, I did," the gorilla replied with a nod before sighing, "Although it was a lot harder than expected. I really gotta hand it to you. I'm not sure how well I would have done if you hadn't softened her up."

Scorbunny chuckled and replied, "Oh, come on, you would have beaten her anyway. I just made it easier," Rillaboom shrugging her shoulders. While deep down, she had a feeling that was not true, she dared not turn this nice moment into a debate.

Drizzile, all the while, simply said nothing. While he felt bad about how little he had contributed in the grand scheme of things, now was a time to celebrate. Even so, there was no way he would allow himself to fail again, and thus he would start a training regimen to build up his strength. After all, it was his lack of muscle that had ultimately resulted in his failure, or at least it seemed that way.

Either way, all thoughts about the fights ended when Vaporeon finished preparing brunch and set it out. She also sent Allie a text to let her know that she and the others would come over for dinner, Drizzile now forgetting all about his loss. Now all he could think about was how excited he was to visit his new friend's home.

Needless to say, things were certainly starting to look up. But just how long would this last?


	8. Chapter 8

Note: I'm sure this is really obvious, but yes, Snowslash is Alolan Sandslash. Also, Burstoise is Mega Blastoise.

A little less than two weeks had passed since Furfrou, Morgrem and Rolycoly had been defeated. And during this time, things in Edmonton had been rather peaceful. Though this was not too surprising since Edmonton had never been a huge target for evil in the past. If anything, the fact that there had been evil to thwart three days in a row was unexpected to say the least.

However, since a whole month had passed since Vaporeon first arrived in Edmonton, she was to report to Hero Planet and show the government how far she had come since then. In order to do this, she was to have a quick sparring match with another graduate randomly chosen from another area.

Her opponent was a light-blue pangolin with two sharp claws on each hand and massive icicles growing out of his back named Snowslash. Their fight had lasted quite a while with each one really going at it, the chairwoman, a cute hedgehog with grass on her back as opposed to quills and a pink flower attached to the side of her head named Shaymin, watching all of this behind a desk.

Vaporeon, who was covered in scratches, currently had her arms wrapped around Snowslash from behind as she curled her tail and propelled herself high into the air. She then leaned backward and shouted, "TRAMPOLINE SUPLEX!" planting the back of the pangolin's neck into the canvas.

Snowslash coughed up a bit of phloem before the fox released him and allowed him to collapse. He then lay there for ten seconds, thus Shaymin smiled and stated, "Good job, Vaporeon. You won."

Vaporeon took a deep breath and wiped sweat off of her forehead while Snowslash sat upright and rubbed his neck. He then grinned at Vaporeon and said, "The chairwoman's right. You were an excellent opponent," the fox smiling and shaking his claw, saying, "Thanks. That really means a lot."

After having lost to two villains in a row, Vaporeon's self-esteem had been suffering as of late. Needless to say, this victory, as minor as it was, helped a lot with that. As such, she breathed a soft sigh and thought, 'I'm still good enough to protect Earth. Those two losses were merely flukes.'

All the while, Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Drizzile were at a local gym. Due to how difficult their last set of matches had been, all three had agreed to meet up for an hour or two a day to train for the next time evil reared its ugly head. And since Vaporeon was testing out her skills against a fellow hero, they figured they may as well do the same with each other while Allie sat by the sidelines and watched. But since there were only three of them, they decided on a series on one-on-one matches starting with Rillaboom and Scorbunny.

In the end, the rabbit defeated the gorilla with her Burning Rocket. Afterwards, Drizzile faced Rillaboom only to fall victim to a tombstone piledriver. And after that, he and Scorbunny faced off in the final sparring match, using a ring that was typically meant for boxing.

Drizzile unloaded an onslaught of karate chops to Scorbunny. But much like the other two opponents before her, she managed to ignore the pain and threw a hard kick into his gut. The chameleon placed his hand against said spot and gritted his teeth only for Allie to say, "You're doing good, Drizzile. Keep it up."

This calmed his nerves a little bit before he raced toward Scorbunny with his head lowered. When the rabbit leapt over him at the last second, he lifted his arms and took hold of her ankles. As such, Scorbunny's eyes went wide while he swung his arms down and slammed her back into the canvas.

Rillaboom blinked and uttered, "That was a pretty impressive counter, well, at least for him anyway," Allie nodding and saying, "He's gotten a lot better since he started training, hasn't he?"

However, the gorilla was not entirely certain of this. While Drizzile had picked up a few new ways to fight, there was just one problem. His physical strength was still just as lacking as it was when he fought Incineroar and Morgrem. And this showed when Scorbunny easily recovered from the damage inflicted to her back and sent both feet into his shins.

With the chameleon distracted, Scorbunny leapt up and mounted herself onto his back. She then took hold of his arms and stretched them back before lighting her feet on fire and squealing, "BUNNY BLAZE KICK!" ramming her heels into the back of his neck.

And with that, Drizzile's face hit the canvas hard and his loss was official. Scorbunny rose her arms in the air and squealed, "YAY, I WON BOTH MATCHES! I'M A CHAMPION!" many others who had gathered around to watch giving her a round of applause.

Allie, all the while, approached the side of the ring and asked, "Hey, Drizzile, you alright?" only for the chameleon to continue to lie there. As such, Scorbunny's excitement left her almost instantly as she turned and uttered, "Oh no. I didn't apply that much pressure, did I?"

Rillaboom was equally concerned before she noticed that Drizzile's eyes were still open. As such, she let out a sigh and said, "He's fine," before she thought, 'Physically, anyway.'

Allie held his wrists and helped him back on his feet as he let out a few deep breaths. Scorbunny, all the while, bit her lower lip and whimpered, "I'm so sorry, Drizzile. I didn't mean to kick you so hard."

"Save it!" the chameleon retorted with fury in his expression, the rabbit trembling and whimpering only for him to gasp and turn to her with regret and whimper, "Oh, no, no, I meant you don't need to worry about me. I'm perfectly fine."

He laughed nervously while Scorbunny nodded her head with a light smile. Though Allie could tell something was bothering him as could Rillaboom. As such, the human girl threw her arms over his shoulders and asked, "So, you guys wanna go out for lunch to celebrate Edmonton's little champion?"

Scorbunny beamed bright while Drizzile rubbed his arm and said nothing. Thankfully, the feel of his new friend against him did help to calm his nerves a little bit, though he did not quite know why. It was not as if this was his first time being hugged by a friend.

Even so, all four went out for lunch at a nearby fast food restaurant, though they chose to steer clear of any place that was known for being too fattening. After all, those places would likely ruin the heroes' progress. And after they got their food and took a seat, Scorbunny dove into her meal while Rillaboom ate hers at a more casual pace.

Drizzile, however, forced himself to eat just so the others would not worry about him even further. And it did not take long for Allie to catch on. In the two weeks they had known each other, she could tell when his heart was truly aching and this was one of those moments.

"So, how do you think Vaporeon's doing?" Scorbunny enquired, "I'm sure she's kicking ass," Rillaboom replying, "No doubt about that. After all, she beat Edmonton's little champion first."

The rabbit giggled while Drizzile secretly wished they would stop talking about fighting. And when Allie noticed this, she shook her head at the others and pointed her thumb at him. As such, the rabbit and gorilla blinked before Rillaboom rose to her feet and stretched, saying, "If you gals need me, I'll be in the ladies' room."

As such, she headed off before Scorbunny got up and said, "Me too. That OJ, you know, it just goes right through you."

When both headed off, Allie took a deep breath and rested her elbow against the table and her chin on her hand. Drizzile bit his lower lip and gave her a nervous look before she sighed, "Are you ready to talk about it? It's okay if you're not."

The chameleon looked around to make sure there were no other customers close by. When he saw no one seated too close to their table, he took a deep breath and explained, "I just feel so useless, like I'm not really part of the team."

"That's what I figured," Allie sighed, "Look, if this is about your match with Morgrem, the fact that you put in the effort means the w-" only for the chameleon to cut in and sigh, "It's not just that. It's literally every fight I have been in since I started all of this."

Now Allie could not help but wonder what he meant. As such, she nodded and said, "I'm listening."

As such, Drizzile smiled lightly but quickly went back to moping while he explained, "This has always been the case for me. I spent most of my life picked on by humans. But when I joined the others to exact my revenge, I wasn't able to come close. While all of our losses were pathetic, mine was the most embarrassing. I didn't even inflict pain to Incineroar."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Allie replied before the chameleon sighed, "When I fought Morgrem, I figured I might stand a real chance. After all, Incineroar's huge. Morgrem, on the other hand, is skinny and yet my hits barely did a thing to her. So I figured if I started working out at the gym, maybe, just maybe I would finally be a worthy addition to this team, and I could be a true hero of Edmonton too."

Allie blinked while he added, "And most of all, I hoped that maybe someday, I could keep you safe as well," the girl smiling with a light blush on her cheeks before he groaned, "And yet today, I showed no signs of improvement. Losing to Rillaboom so easily was one thing, but I barely did a thing to Scorbunny. You saw it, right? My hits were about as effective against her as they were against Morgrem."

Admittedly, Allie could not entirely argue with that. But even so, she rubbed her chin and said, "You know, I can't say you're necessarily wrong, but I will admit that, well, that doesn't really make sense to me."

"What do you mean?" Drizzile enquired before Allie replied, "Well, I've been watching you train each day. I even had you specifically schedule your training sessions for when I wasn't in school so I could be there to see it. And the thing is, I can tell you've gotten stronger."

"What are you talking about?" the chameleon remarked, the girl saying, "I mean that when you train, you show a lot of promise. I see you handle the weights really well, almost as well as Rillaboom does. At the very least, you can certainly lift more than Scorbunny can."

Drizzile blinked and looked back, and the girl did indeed have a point. Whenever the trio would lift weights, Drizzile would always be able to handle at least two hundred pounds with ease while Scorbunny would struggle to lift one hundred and seventy.

Allie then continued to mention how the chameleon was able to put dents in punching bags with his palm punches. Sure, both Rillaboom and Scorbunny could pull that off, but that was certainly something Drizzile would not have been capable of before.

"That's what has me confused," Allie stated, "I can't help but wonder why you're so strong when training and yet during those sparring matches, you were barely able to do a thing."

Drizzile bit his lower lip and looked down only for the girl to smile reassuringly at him and say, "You don't need to think too hard about it right now. We're just out for a nice lunch, okay? Just know that I still believe in you and always will no matter what."

These words alone seemed to cheer the chameleon up. While he did not quite believe in himself, her support gave him a sliver of hope, and right now, that was all he really needed.

At that moment, Scorbunny and Rillaboom returned and sat back down, the rabbit holding onto her cell phone and squealing with excitement. Drizzile and Allie both stared at this until Rillaboom stated, "Oh, we got a text from Vaporeon saying she's on her way back."

The chameleon had been so caught up in the conversation, he had not even realized that his phone had vibrated in the pocket of a pair of pants he had bought on the day he met Allie. As such, he took it out and looked at it, nodding his head and saying, "Yeah, you're right."

"I can't wait to see her!" Scorbunny squealed, Allie chuckling, "You saw her this morning before she left," the rabbit blinking and uttering, "Oh yeah."

All four friends shared a quick laugh before finishing their lunch and heading home. After all, Vaporeon would be back soon and they wanted to be there to greet her.

Along the way, the group headed by Allie's house. As such, the girl smiled and waved to them, saying, "See you tomorrow," the heroes waving goodbye. While he watched her enter the building, Drizzile had a bigger smile than usual.

Ten minutes later, the group returned home and figured they may as well clean up for when Vaporeon arrived. And they ultimately did the best they could with Rillaboom monitoring their duties.

Soon enough, Vaporeon arrived at their house via taxi. After all, the shuttle she had taken from Hero Planet landed rather far from her house. But just as she was about to pay, the driver simply shook his head and told her it was on the house. After all, he would have felt awful charging a hero for a drive home.

The fox approached the front door, opened it and exclaimed, "I'm back!" before the trio immediately raced toward the entrance to greet her. All four shared a group hug before the fox headed toward the living room, asking, "So, were you up to anything while I was away?"

"Just training and lunch," Scorbunny replied as Drizzile did not wish to go beyond that. However, after his conversation with Allie, he did feel as if he had beaten himself up a little too much today. As such, he figured it might be best to focus on someone else, and thus he enquired, "So, how did you do?"

The fox had a big grin on her face as she squealed, "I kicked ass!" Scorbunny giving her a light punch on the shoulder and replying, "I knew you would!"

Vaporeon had a look of confidence on her face now. There was no way she would allow another villain to take her down.

During this time, a certain goblin and golem were located in Seville. Though right now, neither of them seemed in particularly high spirits. As a matter of fact, they were hiding from the law covered in wounds as Rolycoly groaned, "When did we become so lame?"

Morgrem raised her eyebrow and stared at him before he sighed, "You know exactly what I mean. Ever since we crash-landed here in Spain, our fortune has been horrible!"

"Not entirely," the goblin replied with a light grin and a shrug, "We managed to avoid being locked in a cell," the golem sighing, "Yeah, because we got super lucky. If that asteroid hadn't hit the police ship, we'd be behind bars," letting down tears and whimpering, "And we'd probably at least get free meals every day."

Morgrem bit her lower lip while he continued, "And on top of that, we've challenged five heroes in three different cities and lost to all of them!" the goblin about to speak up until he added, "Easily! It's a miracle we haven't been caught yet!"

And sure enough, what he had said was certainly true. As it so happened, the place they had crash-landed in was Granada. There, they faced a big blue tortoise with three water blasters coming out of her shell named Burstoise and a cyborg shaped like a saucer with magnets for hands, large metal feet, one red eye on his face and a small black eye on each shoulder named Magnezone.

Neither of the villains were able to land so much as a hit due to Magnezone's incredible intellect. And since he the tortoise were so powerful, both of them managed to defeat them with a move that involved the cyborg latching his magnets to Burstoise's back and sending electricity into her shell. She then sent a big burst of water from each cannon into the duo, and with the water combined with the electricity, it was easy to take them down at once.

After sneaking onto a truck headed to Cordoba, they took another stab at enslaving another city. And as it so happened, this was where Incineroar and a brown dog with white fur around her neck and on her tail named Rockruff had been stationed. But in the end, Morgrem was defeated by Incineroar's Darkest Lariat and Rockruff beat Rolycoly with a move called Wolf Bullet. This involved her launching herself off the ropes and spinning like a drill with her claws aimed at the opponent.

And after arriving in Seville, both had lost to a dark greenish-blue elephant with a massive arm for a trunk named Copperajah. He easily made quick work of them by forming a fist on the end of his trunk and punching them in the face.

Morgrem blinked and uttered, "Oh yeah, that's a good point," Rolycoly sighing, "Let's face it. If they had taken us seriously enough to use full force, we wouldn't have been able to get away. We've become such a joke that even the other hero stationed here didn't see the point in fighting us."

The goblin looked as if she was about to give up before a serious look formed on her face. She then turned to Rolycoly and grunted, "No! We can reign supreme over the human race! After all, we did defeat one of Edmonton's heroes!"

"Well, you did," Rolycoly uttered only for Morgrem to ignore him and continue, "We just have to start small and work our way up again! After all, that's what we did before!"

The golem stroked his chin and said, "Oh yeah, that is true," looking back to the day they first met.

Both had grown up in poor families and spent the first thirteen years of their lives picked on and taken advantage of. Morgrem lived in Romania while Rolycoly lived in Rome. Much like Scorbunny, Drizzile and Rillaboom, they met up by chance when taking boats to get away from their terrible lives and an immediate friendship was born. And much like the former villains in question, they wanted nothing more than to get revenge on the world that wronged them.

They started off with simple thefts, even resorting to stealing candy from babies. But there was one little problem. They were terrible at it. Every time they attempted to rob anyone, they would always get caught. But much like now, they were super lucky and therefor were able to avoid spending time in prison for their actions.

It was not until one day things truly took a turn for the better. They had attempted to steal from the owner of a fruit cart only to once again fail. But just as all seemed lost, a certain poodle leapt into the scene, knocked out the owner of the cart and stole as much fruit as she could. She then smirked at Morgrem and Rolycoly and asked them to join her since she could see the motivation within them, and of course, how could they refuse?

Morgrem believed that Furfrou had hired them because she saw hidden potential when in reality, she mainly just saw them as suckers to use for her own benefit. Of course, she did teach them a few decent fighting moves as she did not wish to be the only one in their trio doing all the hard work. Taking over Edmonton she saw as her first step to striking fear in the world as she assumed she knew everything about their heroes, but of course, her poor judgement had led to her inevitable failure.

Morgrem looked back to all of this with a smirk and said, "We did it once, we can do it again," Rolycoly uttering, "You know, now that I take the time to reflect on that, we've always kinda sucked."

Once again, the goblin did not hear him due to the fact that she had just spotted a weak, feeble elderly man. She then pointed and suggested, "Let's steal all of his money and make him beg for it back!"

"Wait, you're gonna return it to him if he begs?" Rolycoly uttered only for Morgrem to retort, "That's the best part! He'll beg and grovel and we'll just take it and spend it all on ourselves! It's genius!"

But just as they were about to attempt this, a tube worm with a pink helmet shaped like a snail shell and grey bandages over his body zipped by and snatched the man's wallet from his pocket. Joining him was a small pink seed with pointy ears and two leaves growing out of her skull that resembled buzz saws.

The seed giggled and squealed, "Wow, that was so easy! You're amazing, Accelgor!" the worm sporting a look of pride and replying, "Naturally, Hoppip. I'm so amazing that Seville's heroes don't even know we exist."

His eyes widened when he heard a rolling sound behind him. And when he turned his gaze, sure enough, Morgrem was riding on Rolycoly's back with both in hot pursuit of the criminals, the goblin barking, "HEY, THAT'S OUR WALLET! GIVE IT BACK!"

Accelgor's eyes widened as he spat, "WHO ARE THESE CLOWNS!" before Hoppip frowned and spun the leaves atop her head like helicopter propellers. This allowed her to fly as Accelgor said, "Good idea," and grasped onto her feet.

But just as the duo was about to fly to glory, Morgrem leapt off of Rolycoly's back and latched onto Accelgor's body. The worm's eyes widened while he spat, "HEY, GET OFF ME!" only for the goblin to bite into his side. This caused him to let go of Hoppip before Morgrem leaned backward and shouted, "FANG SUPLEX!" ramming his skull into the pavement.

Quite a few citizens saw this and turned away from what they were doing. Morgrem smirked and tauntingly asked, "So, you gonna fork over the wallet you stole?" only for Accelgor to pry his head out of the surface and hiss, "As if! You're gonna regret challenging me!"

Hoppip landed gracefully against the ground and squeaked, "We'll beat you two together!" Rolycoly uttering, "Are you sure about this, Morgrem? That worm guy's pretty fast."

The goblin smirked and remarked, "Come on, the fact that these guys would rather run from battle means they must suck in combat," the golem blinking and replying, "Good point."

With that in mind, Rolycoly raced toward Accelgor only for the worm to open up portions of his bandages. This caused an array of yellow shuriken to fly out and circle him while he raced right past the golem, shouting, "SHURIKEN STORM!" cuts forming all over Rolycoly.

Despite the fact that he was made of coal, this was still strong enough to put multiple gashes in him while he cried out in pain. Morgrem, meanwhile, attempted to strike Hoppip with her hair, shouting, "GRIZZLY BLADE!" only for the seed to dodge each strike and yell, "WORRY SEED!"

She spat a row of seeds from her mouth and into the goblin, small roots emerging and seeping into her flesh. Thus she tensed up and lowered her guard just long enough for the seed to spin her leaves again and leap toward her, putting a big gash across her midsection and shouting, "LEAF PINWHEEL!"

While the leaves did ultimately destroy the worry roots, this hardly mattered. Morgrem and Rolycoly were already vulnerable since their fight with Copperajah had only ended an hour ago. As such, Hoppip took to the sky and allowed Accelgor to grip her feet again, this time spinning her blades hard enough to whip up a small twister around them.

Rolycoly and Morgrem tried to shake off the pain going through them, but it was too late as Accelgor revealed his shuriken again, both villains shouting, "SHURIKEN TORNADO!" the stars in question spreading out thanks to the strong wind current.

Sure enough, Morgrem and Rolycoly were sitting ducks while the shuriken covered them in cuts. This left them winded as they tried desperately to stay up only for Morgrem to collapse while Rolycoly simply whimpered, "Okay, you win. Just don't hurt us anymore."

"That's what I thought," Accelgor scoffed, but just as he and Hoppip were about to leave, they turned and saw a certain elephant standing before them and pounding his trunk fist against his palm. Beside him was his partner, a white beetle grub with a brown head, yellow and orange pincers on his cheeks and a matching helmet. His name was Grubbin.

"Oh shit," Accelgor groaned, "They actually caught us," Hoppip smiling and squeaking, "It's okay! We can just beat them up like these two losers, right!?" the worm turning toward Morgrem and Rolycoly then back to the actual heroes. He nodded and said, "Yeah, you're right. Let's do it."

This was followed up by Copperajah delivering a punch so powerful, it caused the stolen wallet to fly right out of Accelgor's bandages. The object in question just happened to land in front of Morgrem before she opened her eyes and smiled lightly, a tear dropping from her eye.

"We did it," she uttered while she slowly reached her arm out and grabbed the wallet, Rolycoly's eyes sparkling. He could not believe they had just successfully pulled off a theft. He did not even care how convenient the circumstances were. They had finally managed to commit a genuine crime.

However, while Grubbin latched his pincers to Accelgor's neck while shouting, "BEETLE PINCH!" the elderly man slowly approached Morgrem and smiled, saying, "Muchas gracias."

The goblin turned and faced him before she held tightly onto the wallet and hissed, "Don't get the wrong idea! We just wanted your money for ourselves!" Rolycoly nodding as the man stared at them. He then looked down and turned around, sighing, "Such a shame. I was going to give that money to my grand kids."

Rolycoly blinked before noticing just how much was in the wallet. He had a little over six hundred and eighty five euros, which was a decent amount. Either way, his last words resulted in the two villains taking time to think about what they were doing.

"That is a lot of money," Morgrem uttered before Rolycoly sighed, "Those kids could probably save this so they can have really bright futures of their own."

As such, the goblin took a deep breath and slowly extended the wallet toward the man, sighing, "Here," his eyes wide with shock as he turned and smiled wide. He then approached Morgrem and gave her a hug, sniffing, "Gracias," with tears in his eyes while the citizens, who had not really heard what Morgrem said earlier, smiled and gave a round of applause.

Morgrem stopped and tensed up. She could not believe this. She had just done something good for a human, but most of all, she felt really good about it. And Rolycoly could not help but feel it as well while Copperajah and Grubbin defeated Accelgor and Hoppip with a move that involved each one grabbing an opponent and leaning backward, ramming their skulls into each other.

"TRUNK PINCER SUPLEX!" both exclaimed before their opponents coughed up blood and passed out. But just as the beetle and elephant were ready to receive thanks for their hard work, they noticed more attention put on Morgrem and Rolycoly.

Copperajah frowned and marched over to them, placing his trunk hand right up against Morgrem's skull and grunting, "You two again! You won't get away this time!" only for the elderly man to blink and enquire, "Senor Copperajah, what are you doing? These two maravilloso people retrieved my wallet for me."

The elephant's eyes widened when everyone else in the area vouched for the two. Morgrem took a deep breath and sighed, "No, please don't try to defend us. He's right. We're not really heroes. We're just a bunch of failure criminals."

Grubbin turned to Copperajah and asked, "What do we do?" the elephant grunting, "Well, you heard them. These two are criminals. As such, it only stands to reason that they should be subjected to a month of community service, after which they will be free to do as they please!"

Rolycoly turned to Morgrem who had the biggest grin on her face. Grubbin, meanwhile, nudged his partner and remarked, "You know that's not up to you to decide, right?" the elephant sighing, "I know, but we can at least talk to the chairwoman and try to convince her."

And once again, the goblin and golem were extremely lucky. While Shaymin was initially opposed to the idea since the two were already supposed to be in prison, after hearing about what they had done, she figured this might be okay. Though she would still send an officer from Hero Planet to watch over them and make sure they were not lying.

Either way, their future certainly looked bright, though there was something Morgrem wished to do after their month was up. Rolycoly had a feeling that he knew, but whatever it was would have to wait.


	9. Chapter 9

A month had passed since Vaporeon's trip to Hero Planet. During this time, Drizzile had certainly trained more, though he also tried to avoid straining himself, wondering if maybe his lack of success against opponents was a result of him exhausting himself. As such, he limited his sessions to an hour a day as opposed to two. And of course, Allie made sure to be there to support him despite the chameleon insisting that she not sacrifice her free time for that.

Today during his training exercises, Allie exclaimed, "That's right, Drizzile! Work it!" the chameleon lifting up a fairly big weight one last time before setting it down and saying, "I feel so much stronger now."

When he flexed his muscles, he did not show much in the way of results, but this was simply how his kind functioned anyway. No matter how much they improved their strength, no one would really see physical proof. But regardless, the feeling was there while Allie clapped happily.

While the chameleon approached the bench she was seated on for a break, she patted him on the shoulder and said, "You know, I was thinking, Drizzile, you've been working really hard. I just know that the next time some bad guy shows up, you'll be able to win for sure."

"You really think so?" he enquired as the girl nodded and replied, "Of course," before biting her lip and asking, "Hey, do you wanna hang out with me today?"

The chameleon blinked and uttered, "Um, well, I thought we already were," only for Allie to sigh, "No, I meant head out for a day on the town, just the two of us."

Drizzile blinked and stared for a few seconds. However, he saw no reason to refuse and thus he shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Sure."

During this time, Rillaboom trained in a separate gym along with Scorbunny. The gorilla had just unleashed a piledriver on a sandbag while Scorbunny kicked her own repeatedly before giggling, "You know, I still find it adorable how much time Drizzile spends with Allie these days."

"What do you mean?" Rillaboom enquired, "He always spends time with her," the rabbit replying, "Yeah, but not usually alone. Normally when we hang out, they're both with us, yet he's chosen to train in a separate gym just so he can be with her and no one else."

Suddenly, a toilet flushed nearby before the bathroom door opened. Vaporeon emerged and breathed a sigh of relief only to look confused when Scorbunny turned to her and asked, "You know what I'm talking about, right?"

The fox looked back and forth between her two friends before Rillaboom explained, "She's insinuating that Drizzile has feelings for Allie," Vaporeon blinking and asking, "Are you saying he doesn't?"

Scorbunny smirked and replied, "She knows exactly what I mean," only for the gorilla to sigh, "I'm just saying we probably shouldn't jump to conclusions. After all, you sleep in the same bed as Vaporeon. I could easily claim that you're her lover or something," the fox and rabbit staring at her before barking, "DON'T EVEN JOKE ABOUT THAT!"

The gorilla snickered with her arms folded before thinking, 'Still, it might happen someday. Who knows?' before asking, "So, who wants to spar with me?"

Scorbunny smirked and pounded her fist against her palm before saying, "You're on," Vaporeon striking a fighting pose of her own.

During this time, six mysterious figures approached Edmonton dressed in cloaks. One of them looked over the city and enquired, "If I may ask, why specifically have you chosen this location of all places?" the leader's eyes glowing from under his cloak before he grunted, "Because I have a score to settle with the heroes here. Not only that, but this city currently has the most heroes stationed in it. If we take over Edmonton, the world will see just how threatening we truly are."

Meanwhile, Allie had taken Drizzile to a very nice Japanese restaurant known as Mikado. Since it was in a fairly busy part of town, the duo had taken a bus there, though when the chameleon entered, he tensed up and felt a touch nervous. While he had eaten out plenty of times since he became a hero, he had not been to a fancy restaurant since he was twelve and he was unsure whether or not he could remember proper etiquette. Sure, he had dressed in a nice top and pants before coming, but looking presentable and acting proper were two different things.

Allie noticed his nervous look and sighed, "Come on, Drizzile, you'll be fine. Think of this as a standard outing, okay?" before he took a deep breath and replied, "Well, I am with you, so I guess I should be okay."

Sure enough, both received a nice greeting at the reception desk and were shown to their table. Drizzile looked over the menu and smiled lightly when he saw fried mackerel on the list. When Allie noticed this, she could not help but feel pleased herself.

She wound up ordering a bento box with eel and an assortment of other foods, and once the two received their main courses, Drizzile noticed the eel in question and uttered, "Oh, I wish I noticed that on the menu. I love eel."

"Is that so?" Allie asked with a grin before picking up a bit, "Alright, I'll make you a little deal. I'll give you one whole eel in exchange for a portion of your mackerel. What do you say?"

Drizzile stared at the eel and drooled slightly before nodding and replying, "Okay, deal," cutting off a tenth of his fish and putting it in her box. The human girl chuckled and held out the eel, saying, "Open wide."

The chameleon did feel a tad embarrassed about this but ultimately played along, opening wide and letting her slide it into his mouth. He swallowed the eel whole and said, "Still as good as I remember."

After a few seconds, he blinked and enquired, "Hey, Allie, I'm really glad I met you and I'm beyond grateful for all the support, but I have to ask, why?" the girl blinking before he added, "Why do you hang out with me so much? You must have other friends, right?"

Allie stared at him but a few seconds but understood what he meant. As such, she let out a sigh and said, "You'd think so, but, well, I don't really have any. The truth is, I've been judged for my height for years. I always try to be nice to others, but most people just look at me like some horrible giant who will one day crush them."

"But you're the nicest person I've ever met," Drizzile uttered, "You'd never crush anyone," as Allie sighed, "That's why I like you, Drizzile. You actually get that."

The chameleon bit his lower lip before sporting a serious look and grunting, "Well, that's not right," Allie blinking, "I shouldn't be the only one to see the real you! You deserve all the friends in the world!" a few customers staring while he blushed bright and pursed his lip.

Allie simply chuckled, the light chuckle growing into laughter. She kept it quiet enough not to alert the other customers, but even so, it left Drizzile confused. What was so funny?

"Thank you, Drizzile," Allie sighed, "Those words alone mean more to me than you realize. My parents have been saying similar things for years, but up until now, I've never heard anyone else say it. So thanks," the chameleon himself unable to believe he had just said that, especially since his life had been far worse.

"You know, just knowing someone like you makes me happy," Allie sighed, "And besides, it's not like you're my only friend either. We also have Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Vaporeon. You've all been so nice to me ever since, well, you know."

Drizzile rubbed the back of his neck before the girl cleared her throat and uttered, "Anyway, we should probably continue our lunch before this delicious food gets cold, eh?" the chameleon nodding and replying, "Right, of course."

Deep down, the chameleon was beyond happy to have had this moment, though now he had a few new thoughts on his mind. What if it was high time he try to make new human friends? As much as he was happy with the others, would it really be such a good idea to spend his entire life with only four?

Either way, he and Allie finished the rest of their food, and while Allie was more than happy to pay seeing as it was her idea to come here, Drizzile insisted. After all, Vaporeon always gave him a cut of their funds each month, and while two hundred and fifty dollars was not a whole lot, it was still far more than Allie's allowance.

Both of them left the restaurant shortly after, Drizzile turning to Allie. Deep down, he wanted to suggest that the two of them ask Vaporeon for advice on making friends. After all, while she hardly ever hung out with any of the humans in Aspen Gardens, she did get along with them. However, he felt like such a suggestion would likely ruin their time together and thus he decided to save it for another day.

But just as the two were about to head home, Drizzile's cell phone started to ring. As such, he pulled it out of his pants pocket and noticed the call was from Vaporeon. As such, he immediately pressed the green icon and held the phone up to the side of his head, enquiring, "Hey, Vaporeon, what's up?"

After a few seconds, his eyes and mouth were wide with terror. He then noticed a window to another restaurant and looked through it at the TV inside. And sure enough, there was a news report talking about six cloaked strangers holding random citizens hostage. And when one reporter approached them to ask them what their plans were, only one of them agreed to lower his cloak, their leader.

Drizzile could not help but gasp when he saw this horrifying creature. His face reminded him a lot of Morgrem, though his skin was green, his teeth were much bigger, his ears were pointier and he had a lot more hair at the back that went just below his shoulders.

"Attention, citizens of Edmonton!" he exclaimed in a Romanian accent, "I am Grimmsnarl, the leader of this group! If your beloved heroes don't come here and accept our challenge within the next hour, we will not hesitate to slaughter each and every one of these civilians!"

"Sir, with all due respect, these people aren't our targets," one of the figures whispered only for the green goblin to hold up his hostage by her throat and growl, "You think I give a shit about that!? I want to get my revenge over with as soon as possible and I'll use any means to do so!"

Drizzile continued to stare at this, his knees trembling. Even though he had spent the last month and a half training hard for a day like this, he still did not feel ready. But with how many villains had arrived this time, he needed to be there. He and the others were already outnumbered, but his absence would only make things worse.

He calmed down a little bit when Allie rested her hands on his shoulders and sighed, "You can do it, Drizzile. I'll be there to cheer you on, okay?" the chameleon taking a deep breath and replying, "Yeah, of course," forcing a light grin.

And of course, Vaporeon, Scorbunny and Rillaboom were already on their way to the location in question. The area specifically was City Hall. After all, where else could these new villains garner this much attention?

After a while, Vaporeon and the others were the first to arrive. And this was certainly fortunate as they only had ten minutes left. Needless to say, Grimmsnarl did not look particularly happy as he sighed, "Well, I guess you did get here within my time limit," but just as he was about to set his hostage down, one cloaked figure looked over the group and asked, "Hey, aren't there supposed to be four of you?"

Scorbunny blinked and said, "Well, yeah, but as you can see, our last member is running a bit late. See, he wasn't with us when we saw the news report."

Rillaboom nodded and grunted, "We'll gladly take on three of you before he gets here," pounding her fist against her palm. But while the cloaked figures all prepared themselves, Grimmsnarl gritted his teeth and grunted, "Dammit, I wanted to take out all four of you!"

One cloaked figure sighed and patted him on the shoulder with a green reptilian hand before sighing, "Be patient, sir. You'll have your chance. Besides, the one you wanted to fight is already here."

The green goblin blinked and looked amongst the trio before spotting a particular rabbit. A smirk crossed his face before he let out a light chuckle. And it was not long before that chuckle became maniacal laughter, Scorbunny looking confused until he calmed down and took a deep breath.

"Sorry, it's just that my partner has made a very good point," he stated, "You, Scorbunny, are the one I wish to defeat most of all. I don't care who else among you my allies choose, but I want you for myself."

The rabbit blinked and asked, "Why me?" Vaporeon uttering, "Yeah, I mean, not to sound boastful or anything, but I'm the only hero who was actually assigned this city. I figured if anything, you'd want to face me."

"Believe me, the idea was intriguing," Grimmsnarl replied with a nod, "However, I lost all interest in fighting you when I remembered how pathetic you were against Obstagoon and Furfrou. If anything, you haven't really proven yourself to be all that great."

Vaporeon stared in stunned silence while he continued, "Seriously, your mother, Eevee, was incredible back in her prime. Despite her scrawny stature, she took down some of the mightiest villains to ever rear their heads. You, on the other hand, have hardly done a thing to make yourself seem even the slightest bit worth my time."

The fox tried to ignore his words as Rillaboom frowned and grunted, "Shut up!" Scorbunny quipping, "Yeah! She's not weak! She bested me, after all!"

"That's starting to seem more like a fluke," Grimmsnarl grunted, "Besides, even if she was worth my time, I would have still fought you anyway because you did something that I simply cannot overlook."

"Okay," Scorbunny sighed while rubbing her temple, "Care to tell me what I did that was so terrible?" Grimmsnarl sighing, "I was hoping you'd figure it out on your own just by looking at me, but simply put, you're the one who had my kid sister sent to prison!"

All went silent throughout the area. However, after a few seconds, Scorbunny's jaw dropped before she pointed and spat, "OH MY GOD, HOW DID I NOT SEE IT!? YOU'RE RELATED TO MORGREM, AREN'T YOU!?"

Rillaboom folded her arms and said, "Now that you mention it, I do see the resemblance," Vaporeon sighing, "I had a sneaking suspicion, but I just figured maybe he just happened to be another goblin."

Either way, with his main target already present, Grimmsnarl removed his hold on his hostage and said, "You've served your purpose. Now leave my sight," the human trembling and racing away from the area, the other cloaked figures doing the same with theirs.

Needless to say, tensions were high as a nearby reporter stated, "Things are certainly looking bad for Edmonton as our beloved heroes prepare to once again do battle with evil. To make matters worse, Drizzile is not even present. Will our heroes save us for a forth time or are we doomed?"

Rillaboom cracked the knuckles of one hand with the other and asked, "So, who wants to be pounded into dust?" Vaporeon nodding and adding, "Whoever wants to challenge me, be my guest!"

Just as the other villains were about to pick their own targets, a voice entered the area, shouting, "HOLD ON!" everyone turning toward the source. But while everyone had expected to see Drizzile, it seemed he had not yet arrived. Instead, what everyone saw made them all freeze up, even the villains.

Sure enough, the one who had told everyone to wait was Morgrem. She stood tall and proud while Rolycoly remained by her side and tried his hardest to look brave. Vaporeon groaned at the sight of this while Scorbunny and Rillaboom turned to one-another.

The villains were equally stunned, though Grimmsnarl's shock turned to a grin as he folded his arms and said, "I gotta hand it to you, sis. I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd be able to break out of prison."

"Well, technically, we didn't," Rolycoly uttered only for Morgrem to stare at her brother in surprise. She had not actually gotten a good enough look at him until now. After all, she and her partner had only just arrived in the area.

"Ah, yes, it has been a while since we last saw each other, hasn't it?" the green goblin enquired, "I'll admit, when Mom told me you ran away from home, I was rather worried. I didn't think you'd be able to survive on your own. After all, you've always been a bit of a shrimp, repeatedly letting those scrawny humans have their way with you."

Scorbunny blinked and uttered, "So she's just like Drizzile," only for Morgrem to sigh, "I appreciate the concern, but, well, I've realized that humans aren't really all that bad. In fact, for the last month, my friend, Rolycoly and I have been helping out the fine citizens of Seville."

The heroes stared at her while Rillaboom scratched her head and asked, "How did they get all the way there?" Grimmsnarl holding his hand up to his ear and remarking, "Um, excuse me, sis, but did I just hear you say you've been helping humans?"

"As a matter of fact, we have," Morgrem retorted with her arms folded, "Granted, we haven't stopped any villains, but we have assisted them in various other tasks. I've come to realize they're not really all that bad. Maybe the ones back home were, but the ones we met in Spain were nice and grateful to us."

"Plus, looking back, we both kinda started it," Rolycoly uttered before noticing a glare from one villain and making a zipper motion in front of his mouth.

While Vaporeon found all of this difficult to take in, Rillaboom simply folded her arms and smiled while Scorbunny nodded in understanding. After all, both had been in the same situation themselves, so they knew full well where all of this was coming from.

Grimmsnarl gritted his teeth while his eye twitched, Morgrem adding, "So as you can see, Grimmsnarl, there is no need for you to fight the heroes of Edmonton. Not only was I not put in jail, but the humans we despised for so long really aren't that bad. Isn't that wonderful?"

Unfortunately, the others could tell that Grimmsnarl did not see things his sister's way. As such, Rolycoly tapped her on the back, pointed forward and said, "Um, I don't know if you noticed, but your brother doesn't look particularly happy. He just looks pissed."

"To be fair, he has always been prone to making faces like that," Morgrem replied with a shrug before turning back to her brother and asking, "You're not mad, right?"

"OF COURSE I'M MAD!?" the green goblin retorted, Morgrem tensing up, "I can't believe I actually showed concern for you! Here I was trying to avenge you and now I find out you're working for these horrible creatures!?"

He then glared at Scorbunny and grunted, "You're lucky! I guess you won't be facing me after all!" the rabbit blinking and uttering, "Wait, what?" Morgrem equally confused until he threw off his cloak and barked, "Because I have to teach my traitor of a sister a lesson!"

Rolycoly trembled even more after seeing Grimmsnarl's build. Unlike Morgrem who was skinny all over, the green goblin had a buff upper body that was the same colour as his hair. He had fairly thick thighs and a red diamond shaped mark on his midsection.

Morgrem started to tense up before backing up and uttering, "Wait, hold on. Are you seriously planning on beating me up?" Grimmsnarl pounding his fist against his palm and grunting, "Hell yeah I am! We spent our lives poor because of humans! Our parents were too weak and timid to stand up to them! It's why we became evil in the first place! Don't you care about our parents who spent their lives mistreated by these scumbags!?"

"Of course I do!" Morgrem retorted only for Grimmsnarl to retort, "LIAR! I will make you pay for turning against us!"

Rolycoly and Morgrem both trembled only for Scorbunny to smirk and remark, "As much as I would love to pound your face in, I have a feeling Morgrem will defeat you easily," the red goblin's eyes wide with shock, "After all, she gave me a serious run for my money."

Hearing these words gave Morgrem all the confidence she needed. She simply could not believe that the one who defeated her would be this supportive. As such, she took a deep breath and frowned before stepping forward and stating, "You know as well as I do that I'd rather not do this, Grimmsnarl. I love you just as much as I love Mom and Dad. But I can't stand around and allow you to do this."

Vaporeon had a big smile on her face while the red goblin added, "Besides, the whole reason we came here was to ask Vaporeon if she'd allow us to fight alongside her. Now we have a chance to prove ourselves."

Rolycoly took a deep breath and nodded with a serious look in his eyes. He then clenched his fists and held them up threateningly. With that in mind, Grimmsnarl smirked and said, "Well, this just about evens the playing field. Once that lizard gets here, we'll each have a hero to take down," the other cloaked figures fired up for this.

And as it just so happened, Drizzile and Allie finally arrived at this exact moment. The chameleon raced forward and panted heavily, gasping, "Sorry I'm late, guys. Have the fights started already?" before turning toward Morgrem and Rolycoly only for Scorbunny to state, "Don't worry, they're on our side now."

While Drizzile seemed to understand this fine, Allie was not so sure. But even so, she had to remind herself that Drizzile had also started off on the side of evil and she had still given him a chance. With that in mind, she took a deep breath and nodded but said nothing.

With all said and done, Grimmsnarl smirked and stated, "Alright, I've chosen my opponent. Who do you guys want?"


	10. Chapter 10

Tensions were high. Grimmsnarl had ultimately decided to face his own younger sister in combat. But the others were still yet to decide, let along reveal themselves. Either way, the heroes were sure that whichever villains they fought, they would come out on top, or at least most of them did.

Deep down, Drizzile was still beyond nervous. He figured that even if he got their weakest member, he might still die today. And as much as that frightened him, he still felt like he at least had to try.

"So, guys, who do you pick?" Grimmsnarl enquired as an extremely tall one stated, "If it's alright with you, sir, I'd like to face Scorbunny if you'd rather not."

The green goblin smirked and said, "Well, if that's what you want, go ahead. Don't worry. Now that I know none of the things I accused her of happened, I don't care who kills her."

"In that case, I'll take the gorilla," the one with the reptilian hand stated, "She seems like a worthy opponent," Rillaboom smirking and pounding her fist against her palm. She just knew that she was more than ready for this.

Another one stepped forward and said in a regal tone, "I shall take Vaporeon. You may not think she's worthwhile, but I've been meaning to challenge her from the beginning. I have a feeling there's more to her than those losses indicate," the fox narrowing her eyelids and striking a fighting pose. However, her body started to twitch as if she did not fully believe what he had said, but why?

Either way, one stranger glared at Rolycoly and said, "I'll make quick work of the little one," the golem trying his hardest not to look intimidated. After all, his opponent was much taller than he was, even more so than Rillaboom.

This left one more as Grimmsnarl faced him and sighed, "Sorry, buddy, looks like you got to pick last," only for this particular stranger to shake his head and reply in a deep voice, "On the contrary, this couldn't have worked out better. I've wanted to face Drizzile since the start. I just didn't say anything as I didn't want anyone changing their plans on my account. Although it helps that I also doubted anyone else would choose him."

"Well, you're not wrong," the reptilian stranger replied, "I don't know what you see in him. He's a joke," the chameleon trembling until Allie rubbed his shoulders with a supportive smile.

Either way, the match-ups were chosen, thus Scorbunny smirked and said, "Alright, name the time and place and we'll be there."

"Oh, I have no doubt about that," Grimmsnarl retorted, "Especially since none of you have a choice in the matter! Runerigus, now," the cloaked figure who had challenged Drizzile nodding and waving his hands in a circular motion.

This caused a vortex to appear behind each villain, and inside was a different type of location. Behind the reptile was a mountainous landscape that seemed to be from the prehistoric era. The one who had challenged Scorbunny had what appeared to be an active volcano as his location. The one who had chosen to face Vaporeon had what looked like a medieval coliseum behind him and Rolycoly's opponent had what appeared to be a cave as her area of choice. Behind the one who had created the vortexes in the first place was a dark and empty void and Grimmsnarl had the roof of a castle.

"What the hell is that?" Scorbunny uttered before Grimmsnarl smirked and explained, "These are the locations we'll be fighting in. See, my partner here has the ability to create other worlds. As you can see, he based each one off of our individual characteristics, meaning we'll have an even bigger advantage over you."

Rillaboom frowned and grunted, "We can still take them, right?" Scorbunny nodding and saying, "Of course we can. This gimmick doesn't change anything."

However, Drizzile was not so sure about this. His confidence had already been low before and now it was even worse. Rolycoly tried to look tough and Vaporeon had already started to doubt her chances before. However, even Morgrem could not help but wonder if this could work out.

But in the end, regardless of how the heroes felt, it was just as Grimmsnarl said. They soon realized they had no choice but to accept this when a pair of ghostly arms emerged from each portal. They stretched forward toward the heroes and took hold of them before they even had time to react.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Scorbunny spat with panic in her expression, Drizzile trembling and trying as hard as he could to squirm free. Rillaboom growled and tried to overpower the grip placed upon her while Rolycoly spun his wheel backwards but to no avail. And of course, Morgrem and Vaporeon tried their best to fight the hands that bound them in place.

And yet despite their best efforts, all six heroes were dragged into the portals. With that in mind, the villains all turned around before Grimmsnarl exclaimed, "LET'S GO KICK THEIR ASSES!"

The others nodded and, one by one, they all leapt into their respective portals. All the while, all Allie could do was watch this happen in terror and confusion. She could not help but worry about Drizzile now. After all, with him in another world, he could no longer hear her cheer him on.

However, she and all the citizens in the area were surprised to see that while the portals closed, they could still see what was inside of each one. It was as if Grimmsnarl's partner wanted Edmonton's citizens to witness their heroes' defeat. Whatever the case, Allie was slightly relieved that she could at least watch Drizzile's match, even if she could not speak to him for emotional support.

Inside her opponent's portal, Scorbunny felt a tad nervous due to the fact that the ring was located right in the middle of the volcano's surface and was surrounded by lava. However, she was about to feel even more intimidated when her opponent allowed his cloak to touch the liquid and burn completely off, revealing himself to be a tall red centipede with long eyebrows, a curly moustache and four long hairs attached to his tail, all of them made entirely of flames. Along his front side were yellow circles, each one on a section of his body.

To make matters worse, he had a total of twenty arms to accompany his two legs. This was what intimidated Scorbunny the most. But even so, she had to at least try not to let this get to her. After all, she had already faced three powerful villains and defeated two of them. This was just another threat for her to take care of.

"Welcome to my realm," the centipede stated with all of his arms folded, "I am Centiskorch, the last opponent you will ever face," the rabbit frowning and grunting, "I'd like to see you back up those words."

Rillaboom, meanwhile, stood before her opponent in the prehistoric environment. However, she could not help but feel slightly alarmed when she noticed actual dinosaurs seated in bleachers to attend the match. But in the end, her fears seemed unfounded when her opponent stated, "Don't worry, these dinosaurs are just here to watch us fight. I'm the only thing you should worry about."

When she removed her cloak, the gorilla stared in stunned silence at the creature before her. Her torso was that of a dinosaur with green scales covering most of it and red on the front. She also had matching stripes on her knees, two rings on her lower body, which looked as if its entire rear end had been chopped off and pink spikes down the sides of her front along with slender arms like those of a T-Rex.

However, what shocked Rillaboom most of all was that this being had the head of a blue fish with a big maw and gills hanging like earrings right below her cheeks. She also had a red crescent shaped mark on her skull.

"What are you?" Rillaboom uttered as she dinosaur stated, "I'm Dracovish, and I'm gonna make you wish you'd never switched sides."

During this time, Vaporeon looked around the coliseum at various avian creatures seated in the bleachers. And sure enough, her opponent wasted no time before suddenly revealing a pair of wings thus forcing his cloak to fly off of him. Much like the others, he was quite an intimidating foe.

Specifically, he was a raven with dark blue armour covering every part of him except for the lower half of his beak, his arms and his legs. His talons looked like blades and his wings resembled swords. And as if that was not scary enough, his perfectly round eyes were blood red.

Vaporeon blinked while he took a bow and said, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Vaporeon. I am Corviknight."

Rolycoly gulped nervously while he looked around the cave then to his opponent. This had been his first time in quite a while that he did not have Morgrem by his side. Needless to say, this made him nervous.

And his fear only heightened when his opponent removed her cloak to reveal what appeared to be a tall dragon made of steel. She had yellow eyes and big hands with sharp points on the ends that formed a star shape. Her legs were huge with small blue toes that appeared to be made of crystal. She also had what appeared to be a slender cannon protruding from behind her neck.

Rolycoly trembled while he tried his hardest not to look intimidated. Clearly he did not do a good job, and this was made clear when the dragon folded her arms and sighed, "Pathetic. Why someone like you seriously thought you could be one of us is beyond me."

She then reached forward toward his skull. He tried to wheel away from her but ultimately failed, thus she managed to grab him and pick him up before narrowing her eyelids and grunting, "The name's Duraludon. I'd say it's a pleasure, but that would be a lie."

She then spun her arm around along with him, said part rotating like a turbine. After a few seconds, she released him and allowed him to fly head-first into the turnbuckle. Seeing him already looking weak, she knew she had this match in the bag, thus she let out a sigh and said, "If you didn't disgust me so much, I wouldn't even waste my time on an insect like you. I don't even know how Rillaboom had a such a hard time fighting you."

Morgrem, meanwhile, did not even bother to look around her surroundings. She already knew where they were. This was an exact replica of the run-down manor her family used to live in, and she knew that looking at even the sky itself would bring back terrible memories of how she and her family had lost everything when she was only two.

She also knew that she had to focus on defeating her brother. As much as it pained her to do this, she felt like this was the one true way to fully redeem herself. Even so, Grimmsnarl did not look the least bit intimidated despite her trying her hardest to look tough.

As such, he simply rested a hand against a turnbuckle and sighed, "You know, sis, it's a real shame you had to go down this road. You'd have been better off rotting in prison. Now I have to make an example out of you, and trust me, it'll hurt you so much more than it'll hurt me."

Morgrem gritted her teeth and growled, though deep down, she knew he was right. She was prepared to die, but not without doing her absolute best. All she could do was take a deep breath and think, 'Please win for me, Rolycoly. You might not believe you can do it, but I do.'

But of course, the only one more terrified than the golem was Drizzile. He could not help but tense up when his opponent took a deep breath and said, "This will be over just as quickly as I figured," and removed his cloak.

The chameleon could not believe what he was looking at. He had seen plenty of bizarre creatures. After all, he was one. But nothing could compare to this.

Standing before him was a spirit with a paper thin black body with long arms, limbs and a tail for good measure. Although he also had various grey stone slabs with red markings that served as armour. Two of them covered his forearms while three were around his torso. The bottom was shaped like a crescent moon, the middle was a diamond flipped sideways and the top resembled a crown. He also had two covering the lower halves of his legs and one on the tip of his tail. The markings of these slabs looked like various parts of a serpent dragon's body with the slab covering his head showing the side of one belonging to the creature in question. The only part that was real was a black eyeball with a purple pupil.

"I am Runerigus," the spirit stated, "I figure you might as well know my name now since you'll never leave this place," the chameleon gulping nervously and trying to stop himself from trembling.

During all of this, many citizens were tuning into the news as the cameras were all fixated on the images within the portals. An announcer watched all of this and said, "Well, folks, this is truly unexpected. Not only are we witnessing six matches at once, but they're not even in our plain of reality. We are currently trying to see if we can at least hear what the fighters are saying."

Sure enough, they could not. While they could clearly see the fighters' mouths move during their conversations, that was all they got. But right now, Allie did not even care about that. She just wanted to see Drizzile and his friends come out on top.

Of course, Brian could see this on the TV at the store he worked at, specifically Best Buy. And as soon as he noticed this, he immediately called Wendy to let her know. Needless to say, she was at least relieved to know that her daughter had not been taken into any of the portals, but she still hoped the others would be alright.

In the volcano, Scorbunny decided it might be best not to give Centiskorch a chance to strike her. As such, she immediately leapt backward into the ropes and propelled herself off of them, sending a hard kick into the centipede's midsection. His eyes widened while he clutched onto that very spot with his middle arms, the rabbit delivering a roundhouse to his side.

However, her eyes widened when he narrowed his eyes and grunted, "That barely hurt." He then tilted his body sideways and latched onto the rabbit's ankle.

Scorbunny's eyes widened before she attempted to free herself only for the centipede to take hold of the rest of her body and flip her upside down. Then using all of his upper arms, he carried her all the way up to his chin and shouted, "LADDER TO HELL!" pushing his arms downward thus forcing her skull-first into the canvas.

Just from this one hit, Scorbunny could see it. This centipede truly was a force to be reckoned with, and it only got worse when he turned his back to her and curled his tail flames inward like claws. He proceeded to dig them into her flesh and exclaim, "HELL'S CLAW GRIP!" the rabbit crying out in agonizing pain. While the flames did not make her bleed, they managed to burn her insides while she tried her hardest to shake them off of her.

"I have to say, I'm disappointed," Centiskorch sighed with his arms folded, "I expected so much more. Oh well. A win's a win, I guess."

During this time, Dracovish rushed toward Rillaboom with her head lowered. The gorilla narrowed her eyelids and waited for her to get close before leaning backward and holding herself up with her hands. She sent her feet forward and rammed them hard into the dinosaur's gut thus causing her to wince and back up slightly.

Rillaboom took full advantage of this and sent a hard punch into Dracovish's cheek, all the while thinking, 'I may not have been the smartest fighter back then, but I've gotten so much better. Now I know how to take advantage of my opponents without letting myself get hit first.'

But just as she was ready to follow up with another punch, the dinosaur swerved her head to the side and wrapped her arm around the gorilla's wrist. She then sent her knee hard into Rillaboom's gut and reeled her head back, ramming her forehead into hers.

Her assault did not end there, though. While Rillaboom rubbed her aching head, the dinosaur sped behind her and opened her mouth, a row of shark teeth forming as she wrapped her arms around the gorilla's midsection and bit into her shoulder, shouting, "ANCIENT SHARK FANG!"

Rillaboom cried out in pain before Dracovish leapt backward and flipped her body just far enough for the gorilla's head to face the canvas. She then rammed the back of it hard into the surface and grunted, "SHARK BITE SUPLEX!"

Blood squirted from the spot that had been bitten while Rillaboom's eyes were wide with shock. While this was not quite as bad as Furfrou's needles, it was pretty close, and it only got worse when Dracovish sunk her teeth in more and started to rip at the flesh covering the shoulder.

Rillaboom could feel it start to peel away. As such, she held up her free arm and rammed the fist as hard as she could into Dracovish's face. And while this was enough to get her to let go, she still treated the pain as a minor inconvenience while she backed up and said, "This fight's as good as mine. You may be the toughest among your friends, but you never stood a chance."

Corviknight, meanwhile, perched himself atop a turnbuckle with one leg, the other one clutching onto it while he held aloft his right wing and exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, gather round, for today, you will all bare witness to this epic battle of skill!"

The crowd cheered wildly while Vaporeon blinked and uttered, "Wait, so is that crowd actually real?" the raven replying, "But of course. Everything Runerigus creates is real. I asked him to make me a world where large crowds could watch me vanquish my foes and he gave me just that."

Vaporeon blinked and uttered, "Isn't that a little arrogant?" only for the raven to fold his arms and retort, "What's wrong with wanting a little praise and recognition? Can you honestly tell me the cheers of the crowd don't excite you to a certain degree?"

The fox opened her mouth before scratching her head and saying, "Good point," before striking a pose and taking a deep breath, thinking, 'Just because he's a little arrogant doesn't mean I can take him lightly. I can already tell by looking at him that he's going to be tough.'

With that in mind, she immediately leapt onto the top rope and propelled herself off of it. She proceeded to encase the tip of her tail in an ice ball and flipped vertically toward his forehead, shouting, "BOUNCING ICE BALL!"

Corviknight narrowed his eyes and thrust one of his wings forward, shouting, "STEEL WING!" Vaporeon's eyes widened when the blade-like formation on the end not only pierced straight through the entire ball of ice but also the tip of her tail. And with blood trickling out and the fox trapped in place, the raven took full advantage of this as he flew into the air and thrust his wing downward. This was just strong enough for the tail to slide out of his blade thus allowing the fox's upper back to land hard against the canvas.

Vaporeon's eyes and mouth were wide with shock. She knew this fight would be hard, but she already felt weak from this one hit. And it only got worse when Corviknight flipped himself upside down and descended beak-first toward her, exclaiming, "RAVEN JOUST!"

The beak hit the fox's gut hard before she coughed up blood. Corviknight flapped away from her and righted himself up while the crowd cheered for him. However, he simply held his arm up to silence them while he waited for Vaporeon to slowly push herself back to her feet. It was clear to her just from these moves alone that this raven was far worse than Furfrou ever was.

Meanwhile, Duraludon stood still while Rolycoly shook his head and panted heavily with terror in his eyes. While the golem had some strong techniques, it had been made clear from his fight with Rillaboom that he could not handle a whole lot of pain despite being made of coal. As such, this one blow had already dealt a great deal to him.

Things only got worse when the dragon approached him slowly and rose her fist. Rolycoly gasped and immediately started up his wheel before spinning behind her. But just as he was about to strike her from behind, she immediately turned and swung her tail into his face. This sent him backward into the ropes, and when he bounced off, the dragon turned to face him and spread her leg out far enough for the spot that had been struck earlier to make contact with it.

Rolycoly staggered backward, his eyes wide with terror. If anything, it felt like a true miracle that he could still stand right now. And of course, Duraludon felt the same way while she let out a sigh and grunted, "Just do us both a favour and give up. You never stood a chance. Why did you even think becoming a fighter was a good idea, anyway?"

The golem could not help but wonder that himself, and things did not look that much better for Morgrem either. The red goblin immediately started things off by leaping toward Grimmsnarl and latching onto his shoulders. She then sunk her fangs into his flesh and growled, "FANG SUPLEX!"

But when she attempted to pull backward, her eyes widened when she quickly realized how stupid this was. And Grimmsnarl could see it clearly, thus he pried her off of his shoulder, ignored the small drop of blood that flew out and sighed, "Now I can see why you lost. You're even more pathetic than I thought. Maybe it's a good thing you've decided to join those weaklings people call heroes."

Before she could even retort, he flipped her upside down and leapt into the air. He then tucked his legs in and rested his knees against her cheeks, planting her skull into the canvas with a tombstone piledriver. And this one hit was enough for her to cough up a bit of phloem before her brother released her and allowed her to collapse.

He then proceeded to lift his leg and stomp on her chest, laughing, "DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU COULD STAND UP TO ME!? IF MOM AND DAD WERE HERE RIGHT NOW, THEY'D BE SO DISAPPOINTED IN YOU!"

All the while, Runerigus stood before Drizzile and said, "I am an honourable man, therefor I will allow you to strike first. Don't let me down," the chameleon biting his lower lip and thinking, 'Okay, Drizzile, you can do this. You didn't spend all that time working out for nothing. You're ready for this.'

With that in mind, the chameleon took a deep breath while Allie watched from outside the portal. She smiled in anticipation, not even paying attention to the others.

Drizzile used his tail as leverage to lift himself off the mat before pushing himself into the air toward Runerigus' neck. He then held his hand back and let out a loud battle cry, delivering a fierce karate chop into that very spot. And while this did cause the spot in question to shift a little sideways, his eyes widened at how little the skinny neck had moved at all.

Things only got worse when Runerigus took full advantage of this and sent a hard punch upward into the chameleon's chin. This caused him to fly upward slightly before the spirit grabbed onto his waist and leaned backward, planting the back of his head into the mat.

Drizzile's eyes and mouth were just as wide as Vaporeon's had been when she succumbed to a similar move. Even after all that training, all that hard work, he had barely done a thing.

Allie gasped at the sight of this and cried, "Drizzile!" Wendy and Brian watching this with concern.

However, he could not accept this. As such, he pretended the suplex had dealt less damage than it actually had and latched his legs onto Runerigus' ankle. He pulled backward with all his might only to get no results from this.

With that in mind, the spirit bent his body into a bridge formation, forcing the chameleon to do the same. All the while, he clutched hard onto the back of his neck with both hands and locked his ankles in place with his long spidery toes.

This could not be, not after everything Drizzile had done. It could not be over this easily, could it? Either way, things did not look good for the heroes. Hopefully, things would turn around soon, but it truly seemed like this would be the end for them.


	11. Chapter 11

The citizens of Edmonton watched with fear and alarm when they saw all six heroes fall victim to various powerful blows from their opponents so early into their matches. Just from these few hits alone, they were already looking weak.

Scorbunny had Centiskorch's tail flames sending extreme heat coursing through her while she was unable to fight it off. Rillaboom had almost lost a chunk of her flesh after falling victim to a move that was more powerful than the three hits she had landed combined. Vaporeon had taken in two of Corviknight's strongest moves without landing so much as one hit and Rolycoly had suffered the same fate. Morgrem had only taken in one blow and already looked like she had lost and all of Drizzile's training seemed useless. Needless to say, things looked awful and they needed to turn around soon.

While many citizens watched various different matches, Allie was mainly fixated on Drizzile right now. As much as she wanted to see how the others were doing as well, she had spent all this time trying to help the chameleon out. As such, seeing his moves have worse results than before was painful.

After a while, she pursed her lips and turned away only to notice Scorbunny suffer just as much as he was if not worse. The rabbit continued to struggle only to cause herself even more pain. And after a few seconds, Centiskorch sighed, "Stop whining. I'll end this quickly so you won't have to suffer anymore," though while his words sounded somewhat sympathetic, his tone made it clear just how irritated he was by all of this.

While Scorbunny had only defeated one villain by herself, he had been rather impressed by how much torment she had taken and how she still came out on top regardless. And while she lost her match with Furfrou, she had still done an incredible job. So for him to put her in a spot like this so quickly was beyond disappointing.

Either way, he still had a job to do. As such, he lifted his tail up and rammed her back hard into the canvas, the rabbit crying out even more while his tail flames were still coursing through her. He then let out a sigh and grunted, "Seriously, how can a fire type take in this much pain from fire?"

Just as he was about to lift her up again, the rabbit had to admit that he had a point. As such, she gritted her teeth and rose her hands. She then took hold of the tip of the tail and grunted, "You're right! Heat should mean nothing to someone like me!" applying just enough force to pry the flames out of her.

Those watching her match were beyond relieved to see this as she took many deep breaths and patted her cheeks, thinking, 'I can't let it end like this. I may have lost my first match in a mere minute, but I'm not the same loser I was when I was evil. Don't worry, Centiskorch, you'll get your challenge.'

With that in mind, she noticed the centipede go down on all fours and crawl toward her with his facial flames pointed toward her, shouting, "HELL'S BLAZING FORK!"

The rabbit waited for him to close in on her before leaping into the air and lighting her feet on fire. She then descended toward him and shouted, "SCORCHING ANVIL!" ramming the flaming parts into his back.

However, while this showed more of an effect than her first couple of kicks, this still barely did a thing to the centipede. As such, he leaned his upper body backward, Scorbunny's eyes and mouth wide with terror when he pierced her with this new set of flames. However, this time the rabbit was able to ignore the pain and once again force her way out, but even after she distanced herself from him, she could not help but lose that boost in confidence from before.

How had her kicks been so useless against him so far? She was showing the same kind of results Drizzile had against every single opponent he had faced. What was she doing wrong?

During all of this, Rillaboom seemed to have regained the advantage over Dracovish. She currently had the dinosaur in a headlock, holding as tight as she could. However, after a few seconds, Dracovish managed to ignore the pain and lift up her left leg, ramming it hard into Rillaboom's shin.

The gorilla gritted her teeth and continued to hold on tight, grunting, "You won't best me again!" only for Dracovish to continue to kick the same spot. Eventually, this caused the gorilla's body to shake until her arm shifted in front of the dinosaur's mouth.

Seeing a golden opportunity, Dracovish once again revealed her shark teeth and shouted, "ANCIENT SHARK FANG!" sinking them into Rillaboom's arm.

The gorilla cried out in agonizing pain, blood once again squirting out of her. Dracovish then took hold of the arm she had bitten and leapt high into the air. Once high enough, she flipped Rillaboom over her head and upside down, removing her hands from the arm and wrapping her own arms around the gorilla's waist. To make matters worse, not only were her teeth still planted inside of Rillaboom, but now her spikes dug into her flesh, thus the gorilla let out a louder cry of pain.

The dinosaurs watching the match gave Dracovish a round of applause and stomped their feet while she exclaimed, "JURASSIC DROP!" Rillaboom's skull hitting the canvas hard.

Those watching this particular match stared in horror. After all, it was just as Dracovish said. Rillaboom had the best reputation among her friends as the toughest member of the group. On top of that, she was the only one who was yet to lose to a single villain.

And yet just from a few hits, she felt like she had truly met her match. While Rolycoly had dealt more hits to her, even he had not been nearly this much of a threat. As such, once she was able to sit upright, she could not help but pant heavily and shake her head while backing away from Dracovish.

'How can this be?' she thought, 'I've overcome all of my weaknesses. Everything that held me back before is gone now, isn't it? I've learned how to read my opponent's tactics and use my strength to its fullest and yet everything I've done can't even compare.'

Before she could think further, Dracovish leapt toward her and barked, "JURRASSIC METEOR!" a purple aura surrounding her as she planted her feet hard into Rillaboom's gut. This caused the gorilla to cough up blood and fall backward.

Dracovish proceeded to sit on her gut and ask, "Do you wanna know why you're in this position right now, why you never stood a chance to begin with? It's because for as great as your strength is, you have one major weakness that makes you even more pathetic than Drizzile and far less deserving of your success."

Rillaboom stared with her eyes wide open, trying her hardest to figure out where Dracovish could possibly be going with this. But sure enough, her question was answered when the dinosaur explained, "Simply put, you don't have any moves of your own! Every move you know is an average wrestling move that anyone can use! You're a grass type yet I've never once seen you use any abilities that would suggest that!"

Rillaboom's eyes were wide with terror. As much as it pained her to admit it, this was true. Scorbunny had mastered her fire powers at a very young age and while Drizzile had not yet come up with any moves that required the use of water, he was able to cover his hands in the liquid and even form it in his mouth at any time, which was something very few were able to do.

And yet Rillaboom had never been able to figure out what her natural power was. As a result, she never taught herself any moves of her own. She had always relied on the most simple of techniques, and thanks to her physical strength and her battle tactics, that had always been enough. Yet here she was, up against an opponent who was able to treat all of those moves like a minor inconvenience. If she could not dish out something stronger, she would surely lose.

Things did not look any better for Vaporeon. While Corviknight's moves earlier had not defeated her, she was already shaking as if she had just succumbed to an onslaught when in reality, she had only taken in three hits. And once the raven saw that she was up, he wasted no time taking to the sky and flying toward her with the talons on his hands pointed forward and his wings spread out.

Vaporeon gasped and leapt to the right, which she immediately realized was a terrible strategy. But it was too late when Corviknight's left wing blade struck her side, the raven shouting, "STEEL WING SLASH!"

Blood flew from that very spot before the fox flew sideways. She managed to keep herself from falling again with her tail, but even so, this was not enough. And once Corviknight saw this, he held his arms up above his head and spun like a twister, exclaiming, "STEEL WING CYCLONE!"

Vaporeon squeaked in panic and instinctively held up her arms. But once again, this was a bad move on her part, and it showed when she took in multiple cuts to the spots she had put up. And to make matters worse, Corviknight had no intention of ending his assault just yet.

After half a minute, the fox was unable to keep up her defences any longer. As such, she spread out her arms just long enough for the blades to strike her midsection and form a big gash. She flew backward and skidded across the mat until her head collided with the turnbuckle, her entire body twitching now.

While she slowly attempted to rise back to her feet, Corviknight had a look of disgust on his face. He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes before grunting, "I can't believe what I'm seeing right now!"

The fox stared in confusion while he gritted his teeth and spat, "What the hell kind of display is this!?" pointing at her, "This is the great hero, the daughter of Eevee, the one chosen to protect Edmonton all by herself!? Surely you jest!"

Vaporeon bit her lower lip while he continued, "You know, Vaporeon, I don't know if this matters to you, but out of all six of us, I was the only one who wanted to fight you!" the fox genuinely shocked to hear this, "After how easily you lost to Obstagoon and Furfrou, the others saw you as nothing more than a loser who was not even worth their time. Yes, even fighting Rolycoly seemed more worthwhile than fighting you."

Tears welled up in Vaporeon's eyes as he folded his arms and wings and sighed, "I, however, saw potential. I figured that deep down, there had to have been a reason that Hero Planet's government felt no need to give you a partner to aid you in your struggles. After all, your mother and aunt were legends during their time. And yet before me, I see nothing more than a scared, pathetic weakling who should not have even graduated! Now I can see why you needed others to come in and help you in your first fight! You wouldn't have stood a chance if they hadn't!"

When he took the time to really look at the fox, he noticed the small trickles of liquid rolling down her cheeks. With that in mind, he took a deep breath while even the crowd looked sorry for her. With that in mind, he sighed, "Dry your tears, Vaporeon. I do not hate you. After all, you still did the best you could despite all of that. It is not your fault that your best was not enough. Therefor I will show you mercy and give you two options."

Vaporeon stared as he stated, "Either you can surrender and give the victory to me or I will end your life quickly so that you no longer have to suffer. I shall give you two minutes to make your decision."

The fox could not believe this. On one hand, if she surrendered to him, she would still live, but she would live knowing that she handed victory over to a villain. But if she died, she knew many people, especially her family, would be even more devastated than if she had just surrendered. With that in mind, she felt like she had made her decision.

'Maybe he's right,' she thought, 'I truly believed I was worthy of protecting Edmonton up until now. When I graduated, it was the greatest feeling in the world.'

She remembered it clear as day. She had fought a red and white wolf named Lycanroc in her final exam and ultimately came out on top with Trampoline Suplex, a move her father had taught her years ago. And considering this wolf had a stellar reputation and had even fought alongside her mother back in her prime, this was no small feat.

And of course, Vaporeon's victory over Scorbunny had only boosted her confidence. After all, not only had she defeated her first villain, but she had done so in a mere minute. And her victory over Snowslash was satisfying too.

But just like Corviknight said, these victories could not even compare to the humiliating defeats she had suffered. Much like this match, she did not even land so much as one blow on Obstagoon before she suffered defeat at his hands. And while she had performed far better against Furfrou, that was not saying a whole lot.

'Perhaps I'm not fit to protect Edmonton,' Vaporeon thought while slowly opening her mouth, 'Rillaboom and Scorbunny have both done a far better job than I have in a shorter period of time. And heck, even Drizzile dealt more hits to Morgrem than I did to Furfrou. I'm sure at the very least, they'll still come out on top. They don't need me.'

But just as she was seconds away from giving up, her eyes went wide when she thought of just how the others would realistically respond to this. While they would not have been too hard on her, they likely would have at least scolded her a little bit for giving up.

Even more important was that she also remembered something her mother had told her years ago, about her first loss on Earth. Eevee had failed to defeat her second opponent, just like Vaporeon had, and she was even more pathetic in that match. But while this got to her at first, she simply saw it as a sign that she needed to get better.

On top of that, all of Vaporeon's mistakes so far had been due to a lack of confidence. Deep down, she knew how she could have countered Corviknight's Steel Wing Cyclone and how she could have avoided his Steel Wing Slash. But after succumbing to the hits earlier, she had lost too much focus to do so.

With that in mind, she gritted her teeth and barked, "As if!" the crowd gasping while Corviknight blinked, "You may have gotten a good start, and I'll admit, I haven't been as great as I could be so far! But even so, I am a hero and Edmonton is under my protection! I will not go down without a fight, so put up your dukes!"

The raven stared silently for a few seconds before bowing his head in respect and saying, "I admire your commitment. Even though I am still disappointed, your dedication to your role is commendable. I know I will inevitably kill you in this match, but I will be happy knowing that I fell someone with a true fighting spirit."

While Corviknight's words this time were far less condescending, he still seemed arrogant, and Vaporeon felt as if she might be able to use that to her advantage. She was certain that this would be her first impressive victory on Earth. There was no way she could lose.

All the while, Duraludon's words had really started to get to Rolycoly. What if she was right? What if giving up really was the better option for him?

However, at that moment, he closed his eyes and thought of what Morgrem would say if he gave up. Just the thought of his best friend leaving him over something like that caused him to panic as he shivered and uttered, "No, I can't."

Duraludon rose an eyelid and enquired, "Do you admit that you can't beat me?" only for the golem to retort, "No! I can't give up! If I'm gonna lose, I'll do it while trying my best!"

With that, he sped toward the steel dragon and remembered one of the various tactics he had used to get the upper hand against Rillaboom. When Duraludon attempted to grab him again, he sped to the side and propelled himself toward her, ramming his elbow into the side of her head.

The dragon was caught off guard by this thus allowing him to latch onto her neck and place his wheel right up against it, barking, "MEDIEVAL SHARPENER!" scraping the part in question up against that very spot.

But while this did cause a few sparks to fly, Duraludon easily ignored the pain and positioned her arm right under him. She then formed a fist and sent it upward into him, causing him to fly into the air with his eyes and mouth wide open.

Seeing him now completely vulnerable, Duraludon turned toward him and knelt down, her neck cannon pointed right at him. A thin light shone in it as she grunted, "DRAGON BEAM CANNON!" a streak of light flying from the barrel toward him.

Rolycoly gasped and managed to regain just enough strength to lean backward just in time for the beam to pass by him. And he could not have asked for better luck as sure enough, this thin streak of light managed to put a gash in the side of the cave wall when it hit.

After Rolycoly landed with terror in his expression, Duraludon's eye twitched while she fumed and spat, "HOW DID YOU DODGE THAT!?"

Rolycoly blinked and let her words sink in. The beam had certainly moved fast, so much so that he should not have been able to pull that off. And yet somehow he had.

That was when it hit him. While the golem may not have had the strongest resistance to pain, he had always been very good at dodging. If anything, his lack of focus had been his own undoing up to this point. But now he had a way to turn things around for good.

With that in mind, he clenched his fists and wheeled toward Duraludon. The dragon growled, "WHATEVER, I'LL JUST DEFEAT YOU ANOTHER WAY!" and sent a kick toward him only for him to grab onto the foot with both hand.

He then threw his arms downward thus allowing himself to fly into the air. He descended toward Duraludon with his arms crossed and rammed them hard into her neck, throwing them outward immediately afterwards and pushing himself away from her. After he landed against the mat, he sped right between her legs, crouching just far enough to go under her before emerging on the other side. And finally, he used his hands to propel himself off the mat and into her tail, the dragon's eyes wide with shock as this proved just enough to cause her to lose her balance and fall forward.

The entire area shook when she hit the surface, her face taking in considerable pain from this. She could not believe this. Everything had started off in her favour and yet now, she was at Rolycoly's mercy. And it only got worse for her when the golem leapt onto her back just like he had done to Rillaboom and shouted, "MEDIEVAL SHARPENER!" scraping his wheel against her back and causing more sparks to fly.

The golem had a big smile on his face. He simply could not believe he had pulled all of this off against an opponent this powerful. But even so, he could not let himself lose the upper hand, thus he sped off of her back just in time to avoid a possible counter while the dragon placed her hands firmly against the canvas and pushed herself upright. Now her irritation had reached its peak. She could not allow this match to continue.

Of course, Morgrem would certainly need fortune like this herself while Grimmsnarl continued to stomp on her chest. Ever few seconds, his foot would be rammed into her while she continued to cry out in pain.

After a while, her tongue stuck out and her head tilted sideways while her brother backed up and sighed, "Pathetic. That's really all you can do? Maybe it's a good thing you decided to leave the side of evil. We're clearly better off without you."

These words alone were enough for the red goblin to ignore the pain she had succumbed to up to this point. Her tongue retracted into her mouth and she slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, breathing heavily with a look of anger in her eyes. While Grimmsnarl had never been the nicest goblin, he had always been supportive of her and their parents, so to hear him badmouth her like this was more than she could bare.

As such, she gritted her teeth and stood upright, her knees shaking as she growled, "Alright, that's it!" clenching her fists, "I wasn't completely sure if I could go through with this, but now I known I can! I don't care who you are or how much better you are than me! I'm putting a stop to your plans right here and now!"

Grimmsnarl stared briefly before a wide grin formed on his face. He then held onto his sides and broke out into hysterics. After a few seconds, he took a deep breath and sighed, "Stop making me laugh. It doesn't matter what you try. You're weak. You always have been and you always will be, so just stop trying."

Morgrem ignored his words and leapt toward him while sharpening her hair. She then spun her body around and shouted, "GRIZZLY SCIMITAR!" only for Grimmsnarl to smirk and scoff, "Please, you and I both know that you'll never best me with that move!"

The green goblin's own hair curved upright and sharpened as well. But while Morgrem could only form one blade, Grimmsnarl was able to form three smaller ones. With that in mind, he thrust his head around and whipped his hair forward, exclaiming, "GRIZZLY DAGGERS!"

With that, Morgrem's blade and his blades clashed, but ultimately, it was just like Grimmsnarl had said. In only mere seconds, the red goblin was easily overpowered, thus she flew backward and hit the turnbuckle hard, coughing up blood.

She panted heavily with her eyes wide open while Grimmsnarl approached her from behind. He then took hold of the back of her hair and smirked before lifting her up and flinging her face-first into the canvas. He leapt into the air with his legs raised and planted his rear end into her back, causing her to cry out in agony.

"It's not too late to give up," he said, "If you do, I promise I won't break your spine," reaching his arms down and gripping onto her chin, fear filling Morgrem's veins.

But just as all seemed lost, she gritted her teeth and growled, "GRIZZLY BLADE!" forming her hair blade again and using all her might to tilt her head forward. This allowed her hair to fly up, strike Grimmsnarl's torso and put a fairly big gash in it. Thus he released her and rose to his feet, backing up with slight irritation in his expression.

"Oh, you think you're tough now, don't you?" he grunted, "Mark my words. That's the last time you'll hit me in this entire match, I promise."

Meanwhile, Drizzile continued to suffer while Runerigus bent his back and held his chin and ankles in place. Allie continued to watch this with concern, wishing she could cheer the chameleon on. After all, there was no doubt that any confidence he had going into the match had left him at this point.

The chameleon struggled to free himself before a light bulb turned on in his mind. He remembered it like it was yesterday, the time he and the others had been locked behind bars. In the end, it was partly because of him that Rillaboom had managed to escape from their cell.

With that in mind, he took a deep breath and focused hard, water forming around his hands. He then proceeded to lifted up his arms and lather his neck while Runerigus blinked in confusion. And sure enough, this made Drizzile just slippery enough to slide his head out of the spirit's grasp before bending forward and rubbing his legs.

He managed to slip those very parts out of Runerigus' toes before he breathed a sigh of relief. But as impressive as this escape had been, Runerigus did not seem to think so. He simply folded his arms and sighed, "You really should have just let me break your spine. It would have saved you from so much worse."

Drizzile gritted his teeth and grunted, "SHUT UP! IT'S NOT OVER YET!" once again using his tail to launch himself into the air, crossing his arms and ramming them into Runerigus' neck just like Rolycoly had done to Duraludon.

He then spun around and whipped the same spot with his tail. And with Runerigus distracted, he wrapped said part around his neck and shouted, "CHAMELEON LASSO!" leaning backward and spinning sideways. This allowed him to force Runerigus onto his own side and hit the canvas.

Allie smiled wide at this before she noticed the spirit easily recover from the damage dealt. And while Drizzile stared in horror before Runerigus swung his arm into his cheek and sent him flying sideways and tumbling along the mat.

Allie clasped her hands over her mouth and uttered, "How? How did he recover from that so easily?" Runerigus glaring at Drizzile and sighing, "I bet you've been wondering throughout this entire match why I chose you of all people to be my opponent, haven't you?"

The chameleon sat upright and rubbed the back of his head when he heard this. He blinked and stared in confusion while the spirit continued, "I could have chosen any other hero, yet I specifically chose you knowing I'd end up wasting my efforts on someone like you. Why would I do that? Is it because I wanted my match to be easy?"

Strangely enough, while he said all of this, many people who had watched the other fights turned toward his particular portal. For whatever reason, they could hear him now, as if he had somehow manipulated things so they could. But why would he do that?

Whatever the case, Allie gasped, "Drizzile, don't give up!" assuming that he would be able to hear her.

However, Runerigus was not that generous. He had only allowed those outside his realm to hear his voice, not the other way around. And since Drizzile was unaware of this, he continued to listen. Though what he heard next shocked him as the spirit gazed down at him and stated, "The reason I challenged you, Drizzile, is because out of all the heroes stationed in Edmonton, you are the only one I hate."


	12. Chapter 12

Note: I say this every time I do this sort of thing, and I'll say it again. For those confused as to why nothing progresses during certain fights while others are going on, I'm essentially using the One Piece method by turning back time every time I switch to another match. That way I don't have to sacrifice any moments from the others while focusing on one.

Drizzile and Allie could not believe what they had just heard. The whole reason Runerigus had challenged the chameleon despite knowing full well that he would not get a legitimate challenge was because he hated him. But this was not the confusing part. No, there was another detail that perplexed them, and Drizzile had to know.

"Why only me?" he uttered, "I'm not the only one who switched sides. Vaporeon's the only one who started off on the side of good. Is it because I'm weak?"

"Well, yes and no," Runerigus stated with his arms folded, "Physically, you aren't as weak as you think you are," the chameleon blinking as Allie nodded and thought, 'That's what I've been telling him this whole time. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who sees it, but what else could he mean?'

"In fact," the spirit continued, "You probably have the most potential among you and your friends. While Scorbunny dominates in speed and Rillaboom has superior strength, you have a nice balance. But the problem is that you choose not to take advantage of it. You know how to, but you don't, and that pisses me off."

Not only were Drizzile and Allie confused, but so was everyone else. Was that true? Was Drizzile really that much stronger than he seemed?

Brian blinked while Wendy folded her arms and said, "I had a feeling, but I didn't think it was actually true."

Drizzile trembled and uttered, "N-no. Y-y-you're... you're..." only for Runerigus to sigh, "You can't even tell me I'm wrong, can you? You know full well that everything I just said is true," before kneeling down and sighing, "Tell me, Drizzile, do you want to be in this ring right now?"

Before the chameleon could even answer that, the spirit added, "In fact, can you honestly tell me you ever wanted to partake in any of your matches up to this point? Did you really want to fight Incineroar? Did you want to fight Obstagoon? Did you want to fight Morgrem? Can you honestly tell me that you did any of this because you wanted to?"

Drizzile stared silently and found himself at a loss for words. The spirit was right about everything, and as soon as Runerigus saw this, he made absolutely sure everyone outside could hear him while he continued, "Admit it, you have no drive or free will of your own. Everything you have ever done in your entire life you did because you thought you had to."

Brian blinked and uttered, "Wait, does he mean what I think he does?" the spirit stating, "When you chose to join the side of evil, you didn't really want to. You only did it because Scorbunny convinced you to. And when your friends decided to become good, I have no doubt in my mind you were probably happy about that, but at the same time, you would have much rather gained respect through another less violent profession and just let the others do all the hard work for you."

Drizzile bit his lower lip while Runerigus sighed, "And what's even more pathetic is that you probably could have gained recognition through something else, but deep down, you were convinced that couldn't possibly happen. This is why every move that you have ever landed has done next to nothing. Because you don't really want to fight in these matches. Even when your amazing new human friend was in danger, you didn't really want to be the one fighting to save her life."

Allie, Brian and Wendy all gasped in response to this. And when Drizzile did not even attempt to defend himself, they were even more devastated. Was this true? Did the chameleon really have no intention of saving the life of someone he seemed to care so deeply about?

"You may have volunteered to fight first, but that was only to make it seem like you cared about your new profession," Runerigus sighed, "And when her life was saved, you hoped that you would never have to fight for anyone's sake ever again."

Allie shook her head and whimpered, "Please, Drizzile, say it's not true. Tell him he's wrong," tears welling up in her eyes, "You wanted to save me, right? You really did care, right?"

However, everyone in the area stared in horror when the chameleon said nothing in response to this. Runerigus nodded and conjured up screens to show him Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Vaporeon's matches. He looked upon these and said, "Look at your friends right now. They're all performing horribly but they're still doing the best they can. In fact, Vaporeon, who has not yet landed a single hit is still determined to come out of her match on top, not because she has to but because she wants to protect Edmonton's citizens."

He then pointed at Scorbunny and Rillaboom and added, "And while I may not approve of their decision to switch sides, I can at least respect their resolve. Even though their spirits are low now, they're still focused on protecting others because they know it's what they want."

He then brought up screens showcasing Rolycoly and Morgrem's matches, adding, "Even these two are doing the best they can. Deep down, they know that they don't stand a chance, but after what they did in the past, they want nothing more than to make amends, even if it costs them their lives."

Allie blinked and thought, 'So they really are serious about that. And here I thought they might have been pretending,' Runerigus saying, "There is one last hero I would like to mention, someone I actually have deep respect for. I'm sure you've heard of those who protected Tokyo way back in two thousand and thirteen, right?"

"Oh, of course," Drizzile replied, "Machoke, Gardevoir, Blaziken and Gallade. They're famous," the spirit nodding and enquiring, "Do you know which of those four I respect the most?"

"Machoke?" Drizzile uttered only for Runerigus to sigh, "No. He does come close as I actually commend him for how much he grew as a person, but the one I have always respected is Gallade," everyone shocked to hear this.

Runerigus could see the confusion on Drizzile's face, thus he nodded and said, "Yes, I don't blame you for your reaction. After all, Gallade had a horrible reputation. In his entire career, he faced a total of six villains and only defeated two, and any other opponents he defeated weren't even worth talking about. As a result, he was often seen as nothing more than a punchline, even after he got his first victory on Earth."

The chameleon stared and thought, 'I didn't even know his reputation was that bad,' before the spirit added, "But he never let those losses get him down. Each one was motivation for him to try harder, and it's because he wanted nothing more to be a true member of the team. He would always train hard and do his absolute best, getting better and better all the time, and while it hardly ever ended in success, he still showed results. He never held back and always gave it his all. That is why I like Gallade, because even though he was a good guy and lost repeatedly, he never gave up because he knew what he wanted out of life."

The spirit then glared and grunted, "In fact, can you even say you earned your victory over Obstagoon? Admit it, you didn't really beat him. That one karate chop you dealt barely hurt him. It was the others who beat him. You just happened to fight alongside them for that."

Allie whimpered as Runerigus waved one finger. After he did that, Drizzile's eyes widened when he could hear the girl's voice, gasping, "Is that you, Allie!?"

The girl stared wide-eyed and whined, "Yes, Drizzile, it's me! But is it true!? Did you seriously not want to fight Furfrou and her followers after she captured me and tied me up!?"

Drizzile tensed up with his eyes and mouth wide open. Sweat poured down his face since he could not believe Allie had heard all of that. But he would have felt even worse if he did not say anything, therefor he let out a sigh and said, "Yes, it's true. As worried as I was about your safety, I only entered that ring because I felt obligated to do so. Every time I'm about to strike an opponent, I always hold back in the hopes that if I don't show too much promise, people won't depend on me as much."

He then looked up and sighed, "I've never really been able to make decisions for myself. Everything I've ever done with my life I did because I felt like I had to," Runerigus nodding and replying, "At least you can admit it, and now that you've finally faced the truth, you can die in peace."

The spirit formed a dark purple aura around his right hand and morphed it into a spear head. He then aimed it straight at Drizzile's heart and lunged at him, shouting, "SPIRIT STAB!"

However, the chameleon frowned and grunted, "But that's gonna change as of now!" before leaping up just in time to avoid the incoming spear head.

Runerigus' eye widened with shock when Drizzile spun around and delivered a roundhouse to his face. And for the first time in his life, he managed to deal a good amount of damage, and it showed when a small crack formed on the stone slab he had struck.

Runerigus hobbled backward and looked down at a few small fragments that had fallen onto the canvas. He then looked up just in time for Drizzile to spin toward him and ram his tail into the same spot. He then latched his ankles onto the spirit's neck and leaned backward, lifting him up and planting the back of that very spot into the canvas.

Once again, Runerigus could not believe how much this actually hurt. He clutched onto the back of his neck and rocked back and forth before rising back to his feet and breathing heavily, a look of terror and slight admiration in his eye.

"Yes, you were right about everything," Drizzile growled, "I never wanted to do anything that I ever did in my life! I never wanted to go to school every day, I never wanted to be evil and I didn't even want to become a hero! But when you showed me how much my friends were struggling, I realized something! They need me just as much as I need them! And you know something? That actually feels pretty damn good!"

Allie blinked before he added, "Even though I let them make decisions for me, I have to admit, I have some amazing friends and an equally amazing human in my life who I owe everything! Yes, I'm sure of this! I not only need to be a hero and fight alongside the others, but I want to! I want to earn those cheers and applause, but most of all, I want to keep my friends safe!"

Runerigus stared during that whole speech, Allie letting down tears with a smile on her face. She then wiped her eyes and sniffed, "Thank you, Drizzile. It means so much to me to hear you say that."

The spirit took a deep breath and formed a more serious look in his eye. Suddenly, his fingers became longer and a spiritual energy surrounded him while he said, "Well, in that case, I guess I may as well start taking this match more seriously. After all, much like you, I cannot afford to lose while I'm in this world."

"What do you mean?" Drizzile uttered before Runerigus explained, "You see, fighting in one of the worlds I create is a serious gamble. Whoever loses will be stuck in that dimension for all eternity. And unfortunately, that rule applies to everyone, including myself."

"Wait, so you mean if my friends all won-" Drizzile uttered as Runerigus nodded and replied, "Yes, my allies would be trapped in the realities I created for them. It's the main reason I formed worlds that catered to their personalities, you know, as a special precaution."

All went silent as a news reporter standing outside stated, "As you have all just heard, there are even higher stakes to these fights than we first thought. While the thought of having these villains enslave us all is more than terrifying enough, even if the heroes don't die, they'll still be unable to fight another day. This is dreadful."

However, as much as the thought of being trapped in this empty void for the rest of his life frightened him, Drizzile had another concern. Thus he narrowed his eyelids and enquired, "Do they know?"

Runerigus blinked before realizing who he meant. As such, he shook his head and replied, "No. I figured if I told them about this, they wouldn't be willing to fight in the worlds I made for them. Not that it really matters anyway. I never really saw them as true allies."

"WHAT!?" the chameleon snapped, "You're seriously willing to take such a huge risk!? You'd even put your own leader in a situation like this without telling him!?" pointing at the screen that showed Morgrem and Grimmsnarl fighting.

"Grimmsnarl is not my leader," Runerigus retorted, "I have no leader. I only let him think he had such power over us because I knew I could use his incredible strength for my own benefit. I want to rule a city by myself. I couldn't care less how many others I have to share such responsibilities with."

Drizzile gritted his teeth and turned toward the screens before shouting, "Guys, listen to me! You have to win these matches at all cost otherwise you'll be trapped here forever!" only for Runerigus to sigh, "Don't waste your breath. Unless I allow them to, they can't hear you. Speaking of which."

He then shifted his fingers thus removing the screens from the area and cutting off all sound to and from the outside world. He no longer saw any reason for the citizens to hear what was said in his realm and it seemed equally pointless to hear what they had to say.

Drizzile took a deep breath and glared at Runerigus, growling, "Well, your little rule's gonna be your downfall because mark my words! By the time this match is over, you'll be trapped here forever!"

With that in mind, he ignored the spirit's transformation and raced toward him. He was now moving faster than before, thus Runerigus was unable to respond in time to avoid a karate chop to his midsection. The chameleon then unloaded a series of palm punches, and while these hits did not cause cracks to form like his roundhouse, they still showed the same kind of results that they did against all the punching bags Drizzile had used them on before.

Now Runerigus could not help but wonder if it really was over for him. Perhaps it would have been better if he had not said a thing and allowed the match to continue as it had before. At least then, his victory would have been guaranteed.

Even so, he was certain he could still win regardless. As such, he treated the pain less like a serious threat and more like an inconvenience while he cupped his hands together to form a big fist and rammed them into Drizzile's skull.

This caused him to cough up a bit of blood while Runerigus wrapped the now long fingers on his right hand around him, holding him in place while a dark aura surrounded his left fist. He then rammed it hard into Drizzile's face and shouted, "SPIRIT PUNCH!" more of the liquid flying out of the chameleon's nostrils.

Runerigus continued to send one punch after the next into Drizzile's face, saying, "I will give you credit. At first I wasn't entirely sure if you meant what you said, but those hits proved it, every one of them. Even so, this match has been mine since the very beginning."

With that in mind, he wrapped both arms around Drizzile and extended his body like a rubber band. After he tripled his height, he arched backward and exclaimed, "SKYSCRAPER SUPLEX!"

The chameleon gritted his teeth and thought, 'No, I won't lose. I can't, not after I've come so far.'

With that in mind, he tilted his head down just far enough to see Runerigus' face. Now he was in the perfect position and thus he puffed up his cheeks and unleashed a small bit of water right into the spirit's eye. As soon as he felt the liquid make contact, he stopped his descent and tensed up, the part that had been splashed turning red.

After a few seconds, he cried out in agonizing pain and released his hold on Drizzile. And when the chameleon's head landed gently against the canvas, he positioned himself upright and stared in shock. Deep down, he had a funny feeling this tactic would not actually work, but there was no way he would allow an opportunity like this to slip through his hands.

With that in mind, he took a deep breath and thought, 'I need to make this hit count. I can't give him another chance. I've allowed myself to succumb to too much damage as it is.'

He closed his eyes and leapt into the air with his arms raised. He covered his hands in water, figuring he might be able to deal extra damage like when Scorbunny lit her feet on fire. However, what happened next was something he could not have possibly predicted. Once it went as far as it could go, it morphed into a pair of small blades, Drizzile opening his eyes and shifting them upward just in time to see this.

'Did I do that?' he thought before a serious look formed on his face. He let out a loud battle cry and descended toward Runerigus, swinging his arms downward and exclaiming, "AQUATIC DAGGERS!"

Runerigus regained focus just in time to see this, his eye wide with terror when the blades made contact with his face. More cracks formed until they covered the entire stone slab. Once they reached all the edges, the entire material came open and collapsed, Drizzile breathing heavily while the spirit lay there. All that remained of his head was a floating eyeball.

The chameleon stood there and stared at his fallen opponent. Was this it? Had he just defeated a villain all by himself?

It seemed that might not have been the case when the eye started moving. However, Drizzile could tell there was nothing to worry about when Runerigus said, "I can't believe it. Even though I can move my eye, I can't move anything else. Without my head stone, the rest of my body can't function. I figured even with your new found resolve, you still couldn't defeat me. You proved me wrong and for that, you have my undying respect."

The chameleon frowned and grunted, "I didn't ask for your respect. All that matters is that I leave this dimension and continue to fight for my friends and the citizens of Edmonton."

But as happy as he was, he could not help but wonder how he had pulled that off. While it did not take him a particularly long time to figure out how to form water around his hands, he always believed that was all he could do. Who knew what else he could do with this power?

Whatever the case, his train of thought came to a halt when a vortex showing the outside formed behind him. A gust of wind blew toward it, lifting up the chameleon and pulling him toward it. While he flew toward the vortex, he breathed a sigh of relief and spread out his arms, allowing himself to be pulled to freedom.

He could not wait to reunite with Allie, and he just knew his friends would likely be out there to greet him as well. If he could defeat the true leader of this operation, then there was no doubt they could do the same to their opponents.


	13. Chapter 13

While Drizzile's fight with Runerigus took place, Scorbunny was in the midst of trying to figure out how to defeat Centiskorch. So far, every single blow she had dealt barely did a thing to him, but why? There had to be something she had done wrong.

Even so, there was no way she would give up. As such, she leapt backward into the ropes and bounced off, shouting, "BURNING ROCKET!" ramming her flaming heel into the centipede's midsection.

Once again, Centiskorch ignored the pain once again and took hold of the rabbit's foot. He flung her into the air and pointed his head up toward her, spreading out his flames and bending them like claws. And once she was close enough, he sent them right through her and held her in place, exclaiming, "HELL'S CLAW GRIP!"

Scorbunny winced in pain, but thanks to his words about her fire attributes earlier, she was able to ignore it this time. But just as it seemed like she would force herself free again, Centiskorch caught onto her strategy right away and took full advantage of the fact that she had descended upside down. He lowered his head quickly toward the mat and rammed the back of her head into the canvas, the rabbit coughing up blood.

The centipede removed his flames from Scorbunny while she lay there and breathed heavily. She could not believe it. She had dealt so little pain to him and yet she already felt like she was on the verge of death.

Centiskorch took a deep breath and pointed his tail at her before sighing, "I guess there's no point in stalling any longer. While your defeat would be good enough, I didn't ask for lava just so I couldn't use it. If you really were the fighter I thought you were, you could have avoided this outcome."

He then shoved his tail flames into her and shouted, "HELL'S CLAW GRIP!" lifting her up while she tried to find the strength to fight back.

Unfortunately, she was far too weak now. The fight had not even lasted that long and yet Centiskorch had managed to deal far more damage than Morgrem and Furfrou did in more within ten minutes. The rabbit let down tears and thought, 'Could it be that I'm not really the fighter I thought I was?'

However, her eyes narrowed as she growled, "No! I can't lose! Not like this!" flailing her body around while Centiskorch went down on all twenty twos. He crawled over to the edge of the ring and inched closer and closer to the lava that surrounded it.

The rabbit tilted her head, saw this and barked, "NO! I WON'T LET YOU DIP ME IN BOILING HOT LAVA!" She then used all her might to pry her legs out of the lower flames and swung her feet forward and into Centiskorch's face.

The centipede stopped his advances forward while his eyes widened and a small bit of blood flew out of his forehead. This was enough for him to release his hold on the rabbit before he bolted upright and held onto his forehead. Afterwards, he cried out in agonizing pain before falling on his back and shouting, "OH MY GOD! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!? THAT HURT LIKE A BITCH!"

Scorbunny stared silently at this before she realized why her kicks earlier had been so weak. She had attacked the wrong spot this whole time. While Centiskorch had an amazingly strong body, his head seemed to be extremely weak considering a single kick was enough to draw blood.

But while this was a relief, the rabbit could not help but feel ashamed of herself. She had discovered this weakness entirely by accident. And it was because of this realization that she did not take full advantage of this opportunity and allowed the centipede time to recover from the blow to his face.

Centiskorch was about to yell at her when he noticed her hesitation. When she noticed he was still up, she gasped, "Oh, right!" before leaping toward him and aiming a flying kick toward his skull.

"As if I'd let you pull that again!" Centiskorch snapped as he sent a single flame through her foot and flung her sideways into the turnbuckle. He then tucked his body forward and grabbed onto his tail. This allowed him to curl up into a wheel shape before he rolled toward Scorbunny and exclaimed, "HELL'S TIRE!"

Scorbunny was unable to recover in time to avoid a hard strike, Centiskorch scraping his body against hers. However, after half a minute, the rabbit noticed a pattern to his attack. Every three seconds, his head would be low enough, and thus when it came around a second time, she reeled her leg back and sent it forward into his skull.

Once again, this one kick managed to draw blood as Centiskorch cried out in agony and reeled his head back. Scorbunny blinked and thought, 'That's it! I can win this!' before leaping high into the air and lighting her foot aflame. She then descended toward his head and exclaimed, "BURNING ROCKET!" ramming her heel into the same spot and causing more blood to fly out while the centipede's eyes opened wider than ever before.

When he fell on his back, Scorbunny breathed heavily with a light smile on her face. She could not believe she had come up with that strategy so easily. It was just like when she fought Furfrou.

Centiskorch slowly pushed himself up only for the rabbit to grunt, "I wouldn't get up if I were you! I wasn't thinking straight before! I never even thought to attack a different spot! But now I know how to defeat you!"

The centipede stared in horror and backed up slowly. Sure, he had wanted a challenge, but only because he wanted a satisfying victory. But this was far worse than he could have imagined.

However, there was no way he would allow himself to lose, even if these three kicks alone had dealt far more damage than any of his moves had done. With that in mind, he scowled and went down on all twenty twos again, crawling toward Scorbunny at a rapid pace once more.

The rabbit prepared another kick only for the centipede to shift sideways, ramming the lower end of his body into her gut. This distracted her just long enough for him to creep up behind her and shout, "HELL'S CLAW GRIP!"

He once again sent his flames through her body and trapped her in place, only this time she managed to free herself right away. Unfortunately, Centiskorch had expected this and thus wrapped his top four arms around her and held her in place, once again standing as tall as he could and flipping her upside down.

Scorbunny squirmed to free herself, but it ultimately proved pointless when Centiskorch tightened his hold on her. He breathed heavily and growled, "I take back what I said! You are as powerful as I thought! But I won't let you land another hit, not when I'm so close!"

While Scorbunny continued to struggle, she suddenly realized something. Her legs were right in front of Centiskorch's neck. However, she would not be able to kick the spot hard enough to free herself.

She bit her lower lip and realized there was only one move she could afford to use right now, but it was a huge risk. While Blaziken's granddaughter, Scorchicken, was able to use this move herself, it had always put a huge strain on her, and as had been seen from her match with Morgrem, Scorbunny was even worse when it came to moves like this.

Regardless, she was close now, really close. There was no way she would throw away victory at a time like this. With that in mind, she narrowed her eyelids and spread out her legs, tilting them forward and latching them onto Centiskorch's neck. Before he could even respond to this, the rabbit took a deep breath and used all her might to shift her body backward, pulling the centipede down with her while his feet separated from the mat.

Considering the huge risk, Scorbunny knew she had to make this count. As such, she focused hard and lit her feet on fire one more time. Centiskorch panicked and flailed his free arms around, but it was ultimately too late for him to do anything when the rabbit barked, "ASTEROID FRANKENSTEINER!" and rammed the back of his head hard into the canvas.

Once again, blood poured from his head while he let out another cry of pain. Scorbunny released her hold and allowed him to collapse, his eyes closed now. There was no doubt about it. The rabbit had finally won.

She lay on the mat and panted heavily, and while she was happy, she also could not help but think about how lucky she was that this had been enough. Thanks to her own move, she could no longer stand. She could barely afford to keep her eyes open.

After a few seconds, she drifted off to sleep just in time for a vortex to appear and pull her toward it. Not only would she get a good rest, but she was finally free from Centiskorch's realm. But would the others be so fortunate?

It certainly did not seem that way for Rillaboom. After what Dracovish said earlier, she had lost a great deal of confidence. After all, while her hits had certainly dealt pain, the dinosaur had already proven herself much stronger.

On top of the gorilla no longer trying to fight back, it would have been difficult anyway due to the fact that Dracovish was currently seated on her gut. She gazed down at her opponent and said, "Don't look so upset. This was inevitable," reeling her head back before sending it downward and into Rillaboom's forehead.

Rillaboom cried out in pain before she received another blow to the same spot. After she took in five more hits, the spot in question came open and blood started to trickle down her face. Tears welled up in her eyes while she thought, 'I'm sorry, everyone. I don't think I'll make it out of this.'

The gorilla continued to take in one headbutt after the next while the dinosaurs in the bleachers all released roars of encouragement for the hybrid seated on top of her. Her eyes started to close and her focus had just about left her. When Dracovish saw this, she held off her assault and smiled, saying, "It seems you've realized the hopelessness of this situation. I was going to end this with a stronger move, but I guess I can show you a little mercy."

But just as she was about to send her forehead downward one last time, Rillaboom thought about how her friends would feel if she allowed herself to die. She could only imagine how heartbroken they would be, how even if they came out on top, they would not feel satisfied.

On top of that, she also did not wish for any of the others to fight Dracovish. She was certain they could defeat her, but she imagined their fights had to have been just as brutal. She did not want them to continue from where she left off. There was no way this would turn out like when Vaporeon and Drizzile lost to Furfrou and Morgrem.

With that in mind, she gritted her teeth and folded her arms in front of her face to block the incoming headbutt. But when she did so, something strange happened. The leaves that covered her wrists spun like gears. What happened next was even more confusing as once they stopped spinning, they had somehow transformed into wooden barrels that acted as bracelets.

Rillaboom had no idea what was going on, but it seemed to have had an effect. When Dracovish's head rammed into the barrels, her eyes widened and she reeled her head back. She then stood up and backed away from her opponent while rubbing her forehead. Just what kind of wood was that?

Rillaboom slowly climbed back to her feet and held her arms up, now fixated on the barrels. Where had they come from? Why had they appeared now of all times? Could she always do this?

Dracovish was just about to enquire about that when she noticed that the gorilla was just as confused as she was. As such, she ignored the pain to her head and smirked wickedly, saying, "So you have one elemental power. A shame you have no idea how you activated it."

Sure enough, just as soon as the barrels had appeared, they spun around and vanished, replaced by the leaves that had been there before. Rillaboom stared at this and was about to panic before she took a deep breath and thought, 'No, I'll have all the time to think about that after I rub that smug look off Dracovish's face. Barrel bracelets, I have no idea where you came from, but thank you.'

When the dinosaur saw a smirk form on Rillaboom's face, she stared in confusion and grunted, "Don't look so confident!" the gorilla pounding her fist against her palm and asking, "Why not? I know I can beat you now."

Dracovish stared briefly only for her eyes to widen when Rillaboom got closer. For some strange reason, while she had found the gorilla's confidence meaningless before, now she found it frightening. Could it be? Did she actually know how she had activated such power?

Either way, these thoughts were more than enough to distract Dracovish while Rillaboom sent her fist hard into her face, grunting, "You're right! I don't really have any moves of my own! But right now, that doesn't matter! What does matter is that my friends and the people of Edmonton are counting on me!"

She sent more and more blows to the dinosaur's face before wrapping her arm around her neck. She then leapt sideways, forcing Dracovish to fall to the side before her cheek hit the canvas hard. Unfortunately, though, it was at this moment that she realized what Rillaboom had done, thus she narrowed her eyelids and once again revealed her shark teeth.

But just when she was seconds away from biting Rillaboom's arm again, the gorilla saw this and rose back to her feet, lifting Dracovish up with her. She then held her upside down with her head placed right behind her shoulder. And with Dracovish in the perfect position, Rillaboom leaned back and planted the back of her head into the canvas with a backdrop.

The other dinosaurs all stared in horror at their hero lying there in defeat. They could not believe this had been enough. But Rillaboom had a feeling this was not over yet. After all, Dracovish had shown a great deal of resistance to her moves up to this point.

With that in mind, she looked back to the barrels and thought, 'Yes, this is my chance. Today, I create my first signature move,' leaping into the air and landing hard on Dracovish's gut just in time for her to regain consciousness.

'One day, I'll learn how to use this as I envision it, but for now, this will serve as the ultimate final blow,' Rillaboom thought with her arms raised over her head. She then cupped her hands together to form a big fist, shouting, "WOOD HAMMER!" sending them downward into her opponent's face.

Dracovish's eyes widened as a small bit of blood squirted out of her face. And while Rillaboom's move had not quite lived up to the name she had given it, at least it was a start. What mattered right now was that this had been just enough to knock the dinosaur unconscious while those in the bleachers stared silently at this.

Rillaboom stood upright and breathed heavily, a light smile forming on her face. She then rose her arms in the air and shouted, "BEHOLD YOUR NEW CHAMPION!" only for her eyes to widen when she noticed that none of the dinosaurs looked the least bit happy or impressed.

They all got up from their seats with their teeth bared, Rillaboom tensing up. After all the damage she had suffered, there was no way she could take on all of them even if they were regular dinosaurs.

But just as it seemed like she would die here despite all of her efforts, a vortex formed behind her and sucked her toward it. The reptilian monsters all roared out of frustration before gathering around their fallen idol with concern. Needless to say, Rillaboom could not have been happier right now, thus she breathed a sigh of relief and allowed herself to be pulled through the opening.

During all of this, Vaporeon had finally regained her confidence and was ready to take down Corviknight. Sure, she had not dealt so much as one blow to him and had suffered a ton of damage in the short time they had fought. But despite all of that, she knew she could still win. After all, her mother had been put in multiple situations like this in the past and she was said to have been the best out of her group of five.

With that in mind, she stood her ground while Corviknight took to the sky and soared toward her with his wings out and the talons on his hands pointed forward. But just as it looked like Vaporeon would fall victim to his Steel Wing Slash again, she leaned backward just far enough for him to fly over her. And this was all she needed as she curled her tail like a spring and boosted herself off the mat.

Since she had been facing backwards this time, she soared sideways and wrapped her arms around the raven's midsection. His eyes and beak widened before she leaned farther back and shouted, "TRAMPOLINE SUPLEX!" ramming his skull into the surface.

The crowd gasped as even Corviknight could not believe what had just happened. But even so, while this was a tad upsetting, a part of him was glad that his opponent still had some fight left in her and had not just blown smoke earlier.

Vaporeon released her hold on him and positioned herself upright. She then turned around to face him while he flipped back onto his feet, saying, "Not bad. But let's see you counter this," holding his arms above his head and spinning like a twister once again, shouting, "STEEL WING CYCLONE!"

Now that the fox's head was back in the game, she was prepared for this. And it showed when Corviknight was just close enough. She crouched as low as she could get and whipped out her tail, latching it to his ankles.

Corviknight's eyes widened in shock when his spin came to a halt. And with him in the perfect position, Vaporeon tugged her tail back and caused him to trip, the back of his head hitting the canvas hard while he grunted in response.

She then saw a golden opportunity, thus she leapt onto the top rope and bounced off of it, covering the tip of her tail in an ice ball. She flipped vertically and planted it right into the raven's neck, shouting, "BOUNCING ICE BALL!" propelling herself off of him and landing gracefully behind him.

She breathed lightly with her arms spread out and a light smile on her face. The birds in the audience simply watched in stunned silence while she thought, 'I got this. If only Mommy could see this. She'd be so proud.'

But even though she had gotten the upper hand, she knew it was not over yet. And it showed when Corviknight placed his hands firmly against the mat and pushed himself upright. He turned to face Vaporeon and bowed his head in respect, saying, "Now I see that I was right about you all along. I know not why you struggled so much earlier, but I am glad that you are the worthy foe that I thought you were."

He then gazed into her eyes and added, "Regardless, I still fully intend to come out on top, so have at you!" He spread out his wings and took to the sky while Vaporeon smirked and thought, 'I know just what to do.'

With that in mind, she leapt backward into the nearest top rope and allowed it to stretch back. Once far enough, she launched herself toward Corviknight with her skull pointed at his gut, squealing, "FLYING FOX MISSILE!"

But while Corviknight took in the blow, he ignored the pain and grabbed onto her sides. He then planted his hand talons into her flesh, drawing bits of blood and shouting, "CLAWS OF STEEL!"

Vaporeon's eyes widened with terror before the raven flipped her upside down and planted his foot talons into the sides of her head, stating, "You seem to have forgotten one little detail. I am a steel type. I have a high resistance to pain, so it'll take a lot more than a few impressive hits to take me down."

The fox winced and felt a tad ashamed of herself for having missed such an important fact. But she might not have too much time to dwell on this, and it showed when Corviknight flapped his wings upward, allowing himself to descend at a rapid speed toward the canvas.

"STEEL CLAW TOMBSTONE!" he exclaimed while he rammed Vaporeon's skull into the canvas. Her eyes were wide with terror while blood spewed out of her mouth. Even with her amazing comeback, it seemed as if it was all over for her when the raven removed his claws and allowed her to collapse.

The crowd cheered wildly while the raven looked down at Vaporeon and said, "I have to hand it to you. You really caught me off guard. This only makes my victory much more satisfying, but at least you can die happy knowing that you were a worthy opponent."

He then took to the sky and pointed his beak toward the fox's gut, descending toward her at a rapid speed and shouting, "RAVEN JOUST!"

But just as he was mere seconds away from ending the match for good, Vaporeon's eyes widened as she gasped and rolled to the side. Corviknight was stunned when his beak planted itself into the canvas. Nervous sweat seeped through his armour while he placed his hands against the mat and attempted to pry said part out of the material, grunting through clenched teeth, "Oh, god, how could I allow this to happen?"

"Do you seriously think your words alone would make me happy?" Vaporeon growled, "If I allowed myself to die in this match, I could never be truly happy in the afterlife! How dare you!?"

The raven pushed harder and harder while the fox leapt toward him and planted both of her feet into his neck. She then delivered an onslaught of roundhouses as small dents formed in his armour. While the fox should not have been able to pull this off, her frustration had given her a slight boost in strength.

After she kept this up for a full minute, she could tell Corviknight no longer had the same energy and spirit he had before. His eyes were only half open and his arms had started to feel limp. Even he could tell that this match was over.

With that in mind, Vaporeon leapt up onto him and wrapped her arms and legs around his ankles and waist respectively. She then curled her tail into a spring and propelled herself into the air, prying Corviknight's beak out of the canvas while his eyes widened in shock.

But while his eyes were fully open, he knew he could no longer do a thing when Vaporeon wrapped her tail around his neck. As such, he closed his eyes and said, 'Congratulations, Lady Vaporeon. You have truly bested me in combat. Enjoy this victory for you have earned it.'

Once the two had reached the height of the top bleachers, Vaporeon grinned and descended toward the mat, shouting, "TRAMPOLINE PILEDRIVER!"

Corviknight's skull hit the canvas hard before he coughed up blood with his beak stuck open. Vaporeon then released her hold on him and allowed him to collapse. She breathed heavily and gazed down at him, a look of disbelief in her eyes. As great as this felt, a part of her could not believe that had been enough to end it.

What shocked her even more, though, was when all of the birds in the audience, the same ones who had been made to support and bolster Corviknight's ego, cheered for her and gave her a standing ovation with their wings. Even though it was not from the citizens of Edmonton, just to hear the cheers of a crowd again after more than a month was all she needed. As such, she let down a light tear drop and thought, 'Who was I trying to kid? I am worthy of protecting Edmonton.'

She then rose her arms in the air and shouted, "I AM WORTHY OF PROTECTING EDMONTON!"

"Yes, you are," came a familiar voice from behind her. The fox looked down at Corviknight to see that his eyes were just barely open while he uttered, "Despite everything going against you, you still came out on top, just like your mother back in the day. I apologize. I should not have said such horrible things about you."

Vaporeon shook her head and replied, "No, don't apologize. I kinda needed that. In case you're still wondering, I was holding myself back. After those two losses, I wasn't sure if I really was good enough. You helped me overcome that, even if it was unintentional."

At that moment, the vortex home appeared as Corviknight noticed this and uttered, "Go, be with your friends. I'll stay here with my adoring-" only for a bag of birdseed to fly into his face.

His eyes were wide with shock when he noticed something truly horrifying. Not only had the fans specifically made for him cheered for his opponent, but now they were booing him and throwing refreshments at him. This was all Vaporeon needed to see, thus she frowned when the vortex started to pull her in and whipped out her tail, binding it to the raven's ankle without warning.

Corviknight's eyes widened as he soon found himself pulled through the portal along with her. But as confusing as this was, he was also beyond grateful. But while the heroes of Edmonton had all come out on top, what of Rolycoly and Morgrem?


	14. Chapter 14

While Rolycoly had started off with a huge disadvantage, it seemed as if things were finally in his favour. He was sure he had not quite dealt as much damage as Duraludon had, but with his new strategy, she seemed unable to land a hit on him now.

The steel dragon glared at him and growled, "Don't look so happy. You haven't won yet. You dealt far more damage to Rillaboom and still lost, and I can guarantee the same will happen here. You may think all those blows you've dealt have turned things around, but I'm made of steel."

Rolycoly frowned, pounded his fists together and grunted, "You don't scare me anymore! You may be powerful, but Rillaboom was faster!"

He then sped toward the dragon once more while she rose her arm in the air. But when he swerved to the right and flew toward her with his elbow outstretched, she narrowed her eyes and sent her arm down into his skull.

The golem gasped in pain and fell hard against the canvas before Duraludon lifted up her foot and stomped down on him. She took a deep breath and said, "It's like I said. You may be thinking more strategically, you may even be able to dish out a decent amount of pain, but it means nothing when you have the resistance of a normal type."

But just as all seemed lost, her eyes widened when Rolycoly's hands emerged from under her foot and grabbed hold of both sides. She turned her gaze down and spat, "WHAT!?" while the golem applied an incredible amount of force of that very spot. And after twenty seconds, he had somehow managed to lift the foot up despite the fact that his body now had multiple cracks on it.

"How!?" Duraludon uttered, applying as much weight to her foot as possible but to no avail. And deep down, Rolycoly was not entirely sure how he had pulled this off either. It felt like something out of a fairytale. But regardless, there was no way he would let this chance slip through the cracks.

With that in mind, he let out a loud battle cry and threw his arms up as hard as he could. This was just enough for Duraludon to fall hard on her side, once again causing the entire area to vibrate. And Rolycoly could see her struggle to keep her eyes open, a smirk forming on his face while he pounded his fist into his palm.

"I knew it," he stated while the dragon placed her hand against the surface and attempted to push herself up, "So it's true what they say. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. As strong as your body is, it's also super heavy."

He realized this also meant he would need something much more powerful than what he had unleashed up to this point. He did not wish to give Duraludon another opportunity to keep fighting. As such, he sped toward the nearest set of ropes and used his hands to propel himself into the air and fly over the top.

Before he could travel too far forward, he leaned his arms back and took hold of the rope, using all his might to stretch it as far as possible. And once Duraludon had risen high enough, he smirked and thought, 'Perfect,' before launching himself toward her.

The dragon turned toward him just in time to see this. A look of true terror formed in her eyes when she saw his entire body engulfed in flames and his arms crossed in an X formation in front of his face.

"METEORITE CROSS CHOP!" he shouted before he planted both arms into Duraludon's neck once again. But unlike before, this caused the part in question to cave in while the dragon gasped in pain and started to skid backwards. Things only looked worse for her when she eventually lost her footing and flew into the ropes, her back pressed up against them.

The dragon refused to accept this. There was no way someone this small could possibly defeat her. As such, she pressed her hands up against his sides only to reel them back when she felt said parts overheat from contact with the flames. As such, she was no longer able to do a thing while the rubber that covered the ropes started to tare.

After a few seconds, all that remained of the ropes was the wiring that made them up. And it was only a matter of time until those snapped open, allowing Duraludon to fly out of the ring and into the cave wall. A large crater formed as a result while her eyes rolled to the back of her head, her body now limp.

Rolycoly threw his arms out and distanced himself from the dragon, landing perfectly against the ring's surface with his eyes closed and a grin on his face. But when he opened his eyes and gazed upon his unconscious opponent, he blinked and uttered, "Wait, did I just do that?"

He continued to stare for another few seconds before his grin returned. He clenched his fists and waved them up and down rapidly, squealing, "I did it! I actually did it! I finally beat someone, and it was someone much taller than me!"

He wheeled around the ring in a celebratory fashion before the vortex home appeared and picked him up. But while he was terrified by this at first, it did not take him too long to realize what this was about. As such, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "And now I'm headed home. That's nice," closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

After all, his recovery earlier had been a true miracle. After all the damage dealt to him, he needed a good, long rest.

During all of this, Grimmsnarl had backed away from Morgrem after he received a slash to his torso. But while it felt like a fluke that Morgrem had even hurt him at all, after the extremely hurtful things he had said to her, she was determined to keep this up. The fact that she had successfully landed a good hit on him at all told her that she could at least do some damage to him.

With that in mind, she rose to her feet, leapt toward him and flipped vertically with her hair sharp once again. But just as it looked like Grimmsnarl would take in another slash, he threw his arms forward and took hold of the incoming blade, a wicked smirk on his face.

Morgrem gasped while he tightened his grip. He completely ignored the fact that this had caused his palms to come open as to him, this was but a minor inconvenience. As such, he leaned backward thus allowing himself to lift the red goblin over his head and plant her skull into the canvas.

She coughed up blood upon contact, panic filling her veins when she noticed Grimmsnarl had not released his hold on her. He continued to grip onto her hair while he turned to face her with a big psychotic grin on his face.

"As you can see, your blade means nothing to me," he stated before he flung Morgrem back-first into the turnbuckle, causing her to cough up more blood while he licked the liquid trickling down his right hand, "Do you seriously think you actually hurt me earlier? I only backed off because I was surprised you'd actually try something like that."

Morgrem hissed, "Shut up! I know when you're lying!" only for Grimmsnarl to frown and march toward her. Once close enough, he raised his foot and sent it toward her only for the red goblin to leap into the air and prepare her blade once again.

Unfortunately, she did not even have a chance to try and strike Grimmsnarl this time. Just as she was about to sharpen her hair, the green goblin flung the blood on his left hand into her eyes. This caused her intense pain and allowed him to grab hold of her midsection before lifting her up and slamming her back into the canvas.

He breathed heavily and stomped on her gut with irritation in his expression, growling, "When are you gonna realize it's pointless to even try!? I'm stronger than you! I'm better than you! I always have been and I always will be! What makes you think you seriously stand a chance!?"

Morgrem coughed up more blood and grunted, "I'm not sure if I really do," the green goblin staring down at her, "When this match started, I had a strong feeling that I couldn't possibly win. But I also refuse to go down without a fight. I'm not sure if the heroes of Edmonton will truly accept me, but I have Rolycoly who looks up to me. I also have the heroes stationed in Seville, who gave us both a chance to redeem ourselves. Not to mention the citizens there gave us a second chance. I can't let them down, either."

Grimmsnarl frowned and lifted his foot off of her. He let out a sigh and sent it back down into her gut, growling, "That's stupid!" Morgrem coughing up more blood, "So the whole reason you're letting yourself take in all this torment is for other people!? Have you never stopped to think about yourself!? It's a dog eat dog world! I only teamed up with those other five because they're strong enough to help me achieve world conquest!"

But just as he was about to deliver one last blow, Morgrem gasped and used her hand to propel herself backwards. This allowed her to back flip out of harm's way before standing back up as if all the damage dealt to her meant nothing.

"This isn't you, Grimmsnarl," she grunted, shaking her head, "You have always at least valued family above all else," the green goblin folding his arms and sighing, "You're right. I used to. But do you know what happened when I decided to become evil?"

Grimmsnarl remembered when he first left home to spread terror throughout the world and seek revenge on mankind for the way he and his family had been treated. He had not actually told anyone that he had planned on doing so, no one except for Morgrem. But he also had the red goblin promise not to breathe a word of it as he wished for this to be a surprise for their parents.

His first task was to take down a hero who had recently been stationed to protect their hometown of Baia Mare. He figured if he could do that, he would be able to set an example.

And so he challenged her, a red dragonfly named Yanma. While she had put up a fairly good fight, in the end, he had managed to knock her down with a tombstone piledriver.

But just as he was about to declare himself the new ruler of Baia Mare, his eyes widened when his parents, a pink goblin named Impidimp and a blue spirit with a rusty anchor for an arm named Dhelmise, arrived and told him to stop. As it so happened, the last thing they had wanted was for either of their kids to bring harm to the humans. While they had been mistreated by them, what Grimmsnarl had done only made things worse.

But of course, the green goblin refused to accept this and ran away from home. He swore he would one day return, but only after bringing the entire world to its knees. He was certain if he did that, his parents would regret ever trying to stop him.

Morgrem stared in shock as she shook her head and uttered, "You mean to tell me Mom and Dad were always against this?"

Grimmsnarl nodded and sighed, "I have to admit, I'm a little surprised they didn't tell you," the red goblin uttering, "Oh, yeah, see, when you said you were gonna go off and enslave the whole world, that was when I snuck out to do my own evil. I figured I'd start elsewhere since you already had our hometown taken care of."

She then shook her head and grunted, "But even so, I realize it was wrong to go down that path. Mom and Dad had a point. Rolycoly and I have been on the side of good for a month and while we may not have success, we do have the respect from humans that we yearned for! We didn't need to exact revenge on them! We just needed to prove that we were good!"

Grimmsnarl stared in stunned silence at his younger sister. But while it seemed like her words had gotten through to him at first, he gritted his teeth and snarled. He then raced toward her and lifted her up by her neck before he barked, "That is the wussiest thing I have ever heard!"

Morgrem gagged and clasped onto his hands, desperately trying to pry his fingers off while he growled, "You think that's true respect!? Those people only pretend to like you because you're doing stuff for them! You and that thing you hang out with aren't their friends! You're their slaves!"

For a split second, Morgrem stopped fighting, and when Grimmsnarl saw this, he loosened his hold on her and asked, "You see what I mean, don't you?"

As much as the red goblin hated to admit it, his words made sense. After all, it was just as she said. All of these people had only treated her and Rolycoly with kindness after they started doing nice things for them. Prior to this, they were seen as nothing more than wastes of space, horrible little monsters who did not deserve to exist.

But then she remembered the look of the face of the elderly man whose wallet she had returned. He was grateful to her, and afterwards, everyone in Seville had been really nice to her and Rolycoly. They did not even expect the duo to do things for them. Most of the tasks they helped out with were things they volunteered to do.

And each and every day, the people would offer them food for their hard work. While it was true that Morgrem and Rolycoly had to work for such perks, it still showed that they were indeed appreciated.

On top of that, Morgrem also thought about the others, Scorbunny, Drizzile and Rillaboom. Like her, they had started off on the side of evil and yet now the citizens of Edmonton seemed to love them. Drizzile, especially, had received all sorts of encouragement from Allie during his match with the red goblin, even after he lost. That was not the way a master would treat a slave.

With that in mind, Morgrem frowned and retorted, "You're wrong, Grimmsnarl. You're wrong about everything, and I'm gonna make sure you never harm a single one of these nice people."

She then jabbed two of her fingers into the green goblin's eyes as he gritted his teeth and released his hold on her. He then cried out in pain and clutched onto his face, shouting, "OH MY GOD, WHAT THE FUCK!?" Morgrem breathing a sigh of relief and saying, "That's for splashing me earlier."

She then swung her hair sideways and spat, "GRIZZLY BLADE!" this time slashing Grimmsnarl's ankles. The green goblin let out another cry and fell backwards, landing hard on his back.

Once he was able to open his eyes without feeling pain, he simply could not believe what had just happened. However, there was no way he would allow Morgrem to get in another strike like that. But just as he bolted upright, prepared to make sure he would regain the upper hand, he blinked when he noticed the red goblin was no longer in front of him.

He blinked and uttered, "What the-?" only for Morgrem to slash his back with her hair, shouting, "GRIZZLY BLADE!" once again.

This time, a fairly good amount of blood flew out while Grimmsnarl stood there with his mouth agape. How had his sister gone from such a weakling to a legitimate threat just like that?

Whatever the case, he could not allow her to do any more damage to him. As such, he sent his foot backwards only for Morgrem to leap over it and place her hand against it. She then propelled herself upward and rammed her feet into the back of his neck, the green goblin unable to believe how much pain this inflicted.

While the slashes made sense, this was a kick. He should have been tough enough to resist that and yet this hurt just as much.

And things only looked worse for him when Morgrem growled, "Don't take this personally," sinking her fangs into his shoulder once again. But unlike before, she knew better than to try and suplex him. As such, she applied as much weight as possible to his back and exclaimed through her clenched teeth, "FANG PRESS!"

Grimmsnarl gasped when she actually caused him to lose his balance and fall flat on his chin. She then removed her teeth from him and sharpened her hair one last time, thinking, 'Please let this be enough,' planting the tip into his upper back and shouting, "GRIZZLY SPEAR!"

For the first time in the entire match, Grimmsnarl coughed up a bit of blood. While it was nowhere near as much as he had drawn from Morgrem, it was still amazing she had managed to pull that off at all.

Even so, the red goblin could not help but distance herself from Grimmsnarl and prepare herself for the worst. After all, she knew how tough he was. As much as she wanted to believe otherwise, she figured there was no way this was enough to end it all for good.

And yet despite all of that, the green goblin lay there. Morgrem blinked and tensed up before slowly inching toward her brother. Sure, she had never known him to fake out his opponents, but considering how much his morals had changed, who was to say he would not try something like that?

However, when she circled around him and approached him from the front, she could see it. His eyes were still open and he still had a look of anger on his face. And when he gazed upon his sister, he planted his hands firmly against the mat and started to push himself up.

Morgrem trembled only for his right hand to slide forward, causing him to fall on his chin again. He then panted heavily and grunted, "How!?" slamming his fists against the mat, "How did you beat me!? You were so pathetic up to that point!? Where did all that strength come from!?"

Morgrem reeled back with her arms up defensively until his words sunk in. As such, she lowered her arms and took a deep breath, saying, "I'm actually not really sure myself. I just thought about how nice it felt to have respect and it gave me strength."

Grimmsnarl was about to argue only for her to hold up her finger and state, "And yes, what I have from those people is legitimate respect. Not once have they ever treated me like a slave."

The green goblin stared at her while she added, "I get it. The people back home weren't nice to us at all. It's why I joined the side of evil as well. But, to be fair, we never really gave them a reason to respect us. Maybe if we'd put in the effort, things would have been different."

Grimmsnarl bit his lower lip and grumbled, "Whatever. Just leave me to rot. After all, thanks to you, I can't exact my revenge anyway," his eyes wide with shock when Morgrem held her hand out to him and said, "Come on, let's leave this place together."

Grimmsnarl stared in stunned silence when suddenly, the vortex back to the real world formed. Morgrem gasped when she felt a gust of wind pull her toward it. As such, she frowned and took hold of her brother's wrist, both of them heading toward it.

Deep down, Grimmsnarl wanted to struggle free from her grip. And yet it was just as he said. In his current state, he was too weak to do anything. As such, he said nothing while both were pulled through the opening.

Sure enough, every other hero was already back outside. Scorbunny was still sound asleep, though she had been moved to a nearby bench so she could rest comfortably. Rillaboom was also fine but needed to rest as did Vaporeon. Corviknight, meanwhile, had allowed himself to be handcuffed, though due to Vaporeon's own request, he had not been taken to a police ship just yet.

Morgrem looked around at this and smiled, thinking, 'I knew they'd win,' Rillaboom turning toward her and saying, "I see you won your match."

Before Morgrem could say anything, though, Rolycoly opened his eyes and stretched his arms with a yawn. He then smacked his lips, his eyes wide with shock as he looked around and gasped, "Where am I!?"

When he saw his surroundings and everyone safe and sound, he blinked and uttered, "That really happened. I didn't dream that up. I actually won," Morgrem smiling wide with her eyes sparkling.

When the golem saw her, he immediately sped toward her and held her in a tight embrace while he exclaimed, "MORGREM!" tears in his eyes as he sniffed, "That was beyond terrifying! I hope we're never separated again!"

Morgrem chuckled, "I hear that," patting his head before both noticed Allie standing before them with a light smile on her face. They stared in silence only for their shock to increase when she bowed her head and said, "I'm glad to see you both safe and sound."

As if this was not enough, their eyes went even wider when they heard the citizens in the area cheer and applaud them, all of them happy to know that Grimmsnarl and his allies had been defeated. Deep down, many of them wondered if Morgrem and Rolycoly would even be good enough, but in the end, their fears were alleviated.

"Wow," Rolycoly uttered, "Not only did we win, but people are cheering for us," Morgrem nodding and saying, "Yeah, it feels great, doesn't it?"

Grimmsnarl, however, looked down with shame. It was at that moment that everyone suddenly noticed his presence. Even Corviknight could not help but stare at this as Rillaboom enquired, "Um, what's he doing here?"

Many others could not help but wonder this before Grimmsnarl sighed, "They have a point. I was the one who started all of this. Why did you save me? You could have left me to rot," Morgrem sighing, "Grimmsnarl, no matter what you did, no matter how much you hurt me today, you're still my brother. I told you that I love you just as much as I love our mom and dad. I couldn't leave you behind."

The green goblin let down a light tear but quickly turned away in the hopes that no one saw that. Either way, that was all most of the people needed to hear as Allie bit her lower lip and rubbed her arm. She still could not believe that the same one who had covered Drizzile in cuts had such a big heart.

However, it was at this moment that Morgrem noticed something off. As such, she asked, "Where's the lizard?" everyone gasping and turning to face his own vortex again. And it was at this moment that they noticed Runerigus lying on the mat with his head stone destroyed.

When Grimmsnarl saw this, his eyes and mouth were wide with shock as he thought, 'That weakling actually beat him?' only to look at his sister while his mind added, 'Well, I guess anything is possible after all.'

"Aw, man!" Vaporeon groaned, clutching onto the sides of her head, "We missed the final blow!" Corviknight enquiring, "Can you not just watch it later on the Interwebs?" the fox pouting and retorting, "It's not the same thing."

While some of the others were slightly disappointed themselves, Allie simply cupped her hands together with a big open-mouth smile. She could not have felt more proud of the chameleon right now, and when she noticed him being pulled toward the portal, she stood a slight distance from it with her arms out.

While Drizzile had been prepared for a nice rest, he had not expected to fly right into the girl's arms after he emerged from Runerigus' realm. Allie's embrace was enough to wake him up as he went wide-eyed, the girl squealing with glee and twirling around with him.

"Nice to see you too, Allie," he murmured before she chuckled and let go of him. She then blushed lightly, waved her hand through her hair and said, "Sorry."

Scorbunny woke up at that exact moment and rubbed her eyes with a yawn, groaning, "Hey, could you keep it down?" before looking around and noticing where she was. And when she saw everyone out in the open, she blinked and asked, "Did we all win?"

Rillaboom nodded and replied, "Yeah. Looks like everything turned out for the best in the end," the rabbit breathing a sigh of relief before spotting Corviknight and Grimmsnarl among them. Though unlike the others who were more surprised that Vaporeon and Morgrem had chosen to bring them with them, she blinked and enquired, "Wait, why did only two of the bad guys return?"

"That's a good question," Drizzile uttered while stroking his chin only for Vaporeon to explain, "Well, I took Corviknight with me. Morgrem seems to have done the same with Grimmsnarl," turning to the chameleon and uttering, "Hold on, you sound like you know something about this."

"Well, yeah," Drizzile said, "Runerigus told me that the portals would only allow the winner of each match to leave each realm. If you two hadn't grabbed your opponents when you did, they would have been trapped there forever."

Everyone stared in stunned silence, even the news crew. However, the ones most devastated of all were Grimmsnarl and Corviknight, the green goblin barking, "WHAT!?" Drizzile nodding with a look of anger and sighing, "He told me he didn't care whether you or the others spent the rest of their lives in the worlds he created for you. He saw you all as tools for his own benefit."

Grimmsnarl gritted his teeth just thinking about it. But when he looked at Morgrem and noticed her give him a smile and a nod, he realized he really had made the wrong choice. As such, he took a deep breath and said, "Look, Corviknight and I are weak right now. We should have been locked behind bars five minutes ago."

And sure enough, both villains were soon loaded into the back of a police ship, Corviknight looking at Vaporeon and enquiring, "You know, I have not bothered to ask. Why did you spare me?" the fox sighing, "Well, I couldn't let your own fanbase abuse you like that."

She then smiled and added, "Besides, I also see a lot of good in you," the raven's eyes wide with shock.

But before he could say anything else, the back of the ship was sealed off. After the ship took off, Vaporeon and Morgrem watched and hoped that perhaps both prisoners would one day be released and fight for the side of good.

Either way, it had been a very long day for all of them and all they wanted to do was go home and rest. Who knew what the future held for them? Whatever it was, they were all sure it would be bright.


	15. Chapter 15

It had been about a month since Grimmsnarl and his allies had been defeated. And while Edmonton's heroes enjoyed quite a bit of peace, currently, the green goblin and Corviknight were to stand before Shaymin. The hedgehog gazed down upon them with her arms folded and asked, "Do you know why you stand here right now?"

Corviknight bowed his head and replied, "I know not why you have summoned me, but may I say it is an honour to be in your presence?" Shaymin blushing lightly and chuckling, "Well, um..." while the various guards present in the area stared awkwardly at her.

She then cleared her throat and stated, "Look, I've brought you here for the same reason I changed my mind about having Morgrem and Rolycoly arrested. Even though I'm still a tad suspect, Vaporeon has seen great potential in you. And, well, considering she was right about three former criminals and Copperajah was right about, well, your sister and her friend-" turning to Grimmsnarl who blinked in confusion, "I am willing to give the two of you a chance."

"Are you saying you are releasing us?" Corviknight uttered, the green goblin still confused by all of this until Shaymin stated, "Well, yes and no. See, one thing all those other former villains I mentioned have in common is that they had heroes watching over them to make sure they did nothing wrong. That is what I will do with you."

Grimmsnarl bit his lower lip while Corviknight bowed his head once again and said, "That is just and fair. I must say, I admire your method," the hedgehog blushing again before pulling out a sheet of paper and looking over it.

"Corviknight, it says here you were born in Nottingham," she stated before the raven nodded, "Therefor I will send you to there where you will be monitored by Totodile and Flaaffy."

The raven bowed to her and said, "It would be my honour," Shaymin smiling and giving a curtsy of her own.

She then turned to Grimmsnarl and stated, "Now, much like Corviknight, I will be sending you back to your home as well, but don't think it'll be easy just because you defeated Yanma. Now that every hero has graduated, we've sent Samurott to fight alongside her, and he's no pushover."

The green goblin nodded and replied, "Of course," before enquiring, "If it's alright, could I maybe see my parents before I meet my allies?" the hedgehog remarking, "It's a little early to call them allies, but I will permit you to see your parents. After all, they would like to have a word with you as well."

Grimmsnarl stared for a few seconds and blinked. Then after a while, he enquired, "Do they know I'm here?" before Shaymin nodded and stated, "As a matter of fact, I sent them a message about it. I told them you'd be home soon. They wanted you to live with them, but I figured it might be better if you lived with Samurott until your community service is up."

While Grimmsnarl found this irritating to a certain degree, he also understood. After all, he was not entirely sure himself whether or not he really was ready to fight for good. But even so, he was at least grateful that he could speak to his parents.

And sure enough, both were taken back to Earth and dropped off at their respective locations. A guard exited the ship along with Grimmsnarl after it had landed in front of his old manor. This made him feel a tad uncomfortable, but he let out a sigh and rang the doorbell nonetheless.

After a few seconds, a blue woman with a rusty hook for a right arm answered and said, "Hello," her eyes wide with shock when she stared at the goblin before her.

Grimmsnarl held his hands behind his back and pursed his lips. His eyes darted back and forth before he said, "Hi, Mom," tears running from Dhelmise's eyes before she embraced him with her good arm and cried, "SO IT'S TRUE! YOU DID COME BACK TO US!"

The guard watched both of them close to make sure Grimmsnarl did not try to stab the woman in the back. He rolled his eyes at this before patting her on the back and sighing, "Yeah, I'm back. I only have a few minutes, but here I am."

In less than a minute, the green goblin already found himself seated at a dining table while both of his parents sat before him. The guard had also been invited inside and offered a cup of tea. Though while he gladly drank it, he did so away from the table and kept his gaze upon Grimmsnarl from a distance.

"It's certainly nice to see you alive and well," Dhelmise said with a sweet smile while Impidimp took a sip of his own tea and said, "Yes. Your mother and I certainly missed you," before enquiring, "So, is it true you met your sister?"

"Oh my god, stop!" Grimmsnarl groaned while the two parents looked at him awkwardly, "Admit it. You're both disappointed in me. I did something you never would have wanted me to do and made our family's reputation even worse that it already was, and to make matters worse, I'm still technically under arrest right now."

Dhelmise and Impidimp both stared while he continued, "You've been wanting to scold me since I got here, haven't you!? Well, go on! Give me the verbal beat down I deserve! You've been waiting for it all day, right!?"

Impidimp stared silently for a few seconds and took a deep breath. He then smirked and put down his teacup. After that, he rested his arms over the back of his chair and remarked, "Why bother? You just did our job for us."

Grimmsnarl blinked while Dhelmise chuckled, "Look, son, while your actions were awful, you did them for us. We can't be mad at you for that. And, well, at least you can admit that it was horrible. That gives us both hope."

The guard was just as shocked as Grimmsnarl while both parents had only the warmest smiles on their faces. With that in mind, the green goblin held up his hands in a manner that implied confusion while desperately looking for the right words. But how could he possibly react to something like this?

A part of him wanted to scold them for this. While he hated having to be accompanied by a guard only to be under the watchful eye of two heroes later, there was this strange part of him that wanted his parents to punish him. And yet after a few seconds, he realized all this would really do was ruin the moment. As such, he took a deep breath, picked up a cup of tea placed in front of him and took a sip.

He blinked and pulled the cup away before staring at it. Then after a little while, he nodded and said, "That is very good tea. In fact, it tastes like it was actually purchased from a store and not taken from someone's dumpster."

"That's because it was," Dhelmise replied, "Yeah, something we probably should have mentioned is that, well, we've finally been accepted as ordinary citizens here. When you left us after we scolded you, the townsfolk took pity on us. They saw how heavily opposed we were to your actions and realized they were wrong to judge us."

"We also realized something else," Impidimp sighed, "The whole reason people treated us like monsters is because, well, we did act like monsters. We'd always threaten them to stay off of our property and locked ourselves up inside our home when we weren't raiding trash cans for food."

"Once we saw how nice they were, we stopped," Dhelmise stated, "It's certainly nice to know Morgrem is helping them out now," Grimmsnarl laughing nervously when Impidimp asked, "By the way, is it true she actually bested you in combat?"

The green goblin chuckled, "Yeah, she owned me good," a look of uncertainty in his eyes. So far, everything Morgrem told him seemed to be true, but this almost appeared to be too good. Could he really just accept all of this?

Either way, the family talked for another few minutes until it was time for Grimmsnarl to go. The guard, all the while, bowed his head to Dhelmise and Impidimp and thanked them for the hospitality. And sure enough, once both had exited the building, Yanma stood there with a blue sea lion by her side.

He had long, bushy white whiskers that extended from his snout to the back of his head and a small red nose. A beige shell that resembled a helmet covered the back of his head and had a long horn on the end of it. A bluish grey carapace covered his underbelly and his arms and limbs were covered with bracers made from the same material at his helmet. Although the ones on his forearms looked more blade-like than those on his legs.

The guard looked at the two heroes before him and said, "Keep a good eye on him, alright?" the sea lion giving an army salute and replying, "You can count on us, sir."

Yanma, on the other hand, struggled to put up a brave front. After all, Grimmsnarl had defeated her in combat. Who was to say he would not do the same to her a second time?

Either way, the guard returned to the police ship he had arrived in and took off, the sea lion glaring at Grimmsnarl. The green goblin stared at him until he took hold of his shoulder with his right hand and used his left to take the shell attached to that very forearm and point it at his neck. As it so happened, the shells on the sea lion's arms were actual swords.

"Alright, you listen, and you listen up good!" he growled, "The chairwoman of Hero Planet might think you're worthy of a second chance, but I don't!" Grimmsnarl tensing up while had continued, "Yanma here has told me just how dangerous you are, so mark my words, punk ass! If you do anything to harm the fair people of Baia Mare, let alone Yanma, you will answer to my seamitars, got it!?"

Grimmsnarl's arms were raised in the air while he nodded his head slowly, though he could not help but wonder why he had reacted like that. Before, a threat like this would have been meaningless to him. And yet somehow, this terrified him.

Either way, all the sea lion had to see was the fear in his eyes, thus he lowered his arms and reattached his seamitar. Yanma then held onto his shoulders from behind and said, "Thank you, Samurott, though you didn't need to go that far."

Samurott let out a sigh and said, "You can't lower your guard with this one. I know it's common for villains to turn good, but that doesn't mean we can just trust him yet. Don't forget how badly he hurt you when you fought."

Yanma was about to protest, but she had to admit that he had a point. And of course, Grimmsnarl was still unsure whether he really wanted to be a hero or not. But even so, he had to at least give it a try. Seeing how much better life was for his family, this seemed like the right path to go down.

With that in mind, Samurott and Yanma started to walk through town. Many citizens waved at the dragonfly while she implied a smile with her eyes and waved back. Though when the people spotted Grimmsnarl, they looked a tad more nervous until Samurott gave them a look of reassurance.

At that moment, the green goblin spotted a young boy playing with a ball only to drop it. The ball rolled into the middle of the road, thus the boy ran toward it, a car racing toward him. Grimmsnarl gasped and bolted toward the kid only for Samurott to grab him by the arm with his teeth gritted as if to tell him to back off.

Thankfully, the boy was still safe, and this was made clear when Yanma spread out her wings and took to the sky. She then soared toward him, grabbing the ball with her left arm before she scooped him up in her right, carrying him to safety and breathing a sigh of relief.

Grimmsnarl stared at this while the boy's mother ran over to him and bowed her head as thanks. The green goblin blinked when he saw the boy and woman exit the vicinity. He had an odd feeling in his chest, just seeing this one little life saved from the hands of death.

However, his thought process came to a close when Yanma flew back across the street over to him and Samurott. The sea lion smiled and said, "That was quick thinking. Good job, Yanma," turning to Grimmsnarl who gave him a confused look.

Yanma stared at this and rubbed the back of her head, saying, "Yeah, well, I'm just glad that little boy is safe."

She then looked around and asked, "Hey, are you guys hungry? I know a nice place we could go for lunch," Grimmsnarl grinning and replying, "Oh, that sounds nice. I know a good place really close by-"

Samurott frowned and grunted, "I believe Yanma already had a plan, Grimmsnarl!" the green goblin tensing up only for Yanma to utter, "Well, if his choice is closer, it might be the better-" only for the sea lion to sigh, "Yanma, he is not our friend. He has to do what we say, remember?"

Grimmsnarl stared at him with disdain only for Yanma to nod and utter, "Um, right, of course," before chuckling, "Well, come on, Grimmsnarl, Samurott, let's go enjoy lunch together."

While the green goblin was slightly flattered by the fact that she had mentioned him first, it did not change the fact that she had still agreed with Samurott. But even so, he had to remember why they treated him like this. He had deserved it. This made perfect sense.

Once he remembered that, he calmed down and nodded his head, saying, "Lead the way," Samurott smirking and replying, "Good answer. I guess there's potential in you yet."

Grimmsnarl could not help but find that response more condescending than positive. But even so, it was better than the treatment he had received so far, so he bit his lower lip and followed both heroes. However, he had to admit that at least Yanma's choice was certainly not a bad one as she had chosen to eat at Dabo Doner.

Once they were seated, Samurott looked over the menu with confusion. As was expected, all of the menu items were written in Romanian. Sure, in preparation for his trip to the country, he had been taught how to speak it, but he was still new to reading it.

Grimmsnarl peered over and said, "I recommend this," pointing at one particular selection only for Samurott to shift the menu away from him and hiss, "Well, if you think it's great, it must be terrible!"

Yanma blinked and asked, "What did you recommend?" the green goblin rubbing the back of his neck and uttering, "The crispy meniu."

The dragonfly blinked and stared in stunned silence before she nodded and said, "You have good taste," Samurott blinking and uttering, "Wait, are you saying it's actually good?"

"Oh, it's to die for," the dragonfly replied with an implied smile, "It's the only thing I ever order here. I've tried other stuff on the menu, but the crispy meniu is so good!"

Grimmsnarl's eyes widened and sparkled in admiration. He could not believe it, but it seemed as if he had actually started to get along with Yanma. However, his positivity left him when Samurott shrugged and said, "Well, if you recommend it, I guess I may as well try it too."

While this should not have mattered as much as it did, this made the goblin's blood boil. While Yanma did not seem too bad, he could not help but find it irritating how biased Samurott seemed. But just as he was about to lose his cool, he took a deep breath. Again, it made sense.

However, just as they were ready to order, a robber broke in with a pistol in hand and yelled, "Alright, nobody move! This is a holdup!"

The customers all gasped and panicked only for Grimmsnarl to rise from his seat and pound his fist against his palm. He could not have asked for a better opportunity. If he could save the customers from this threat, he could be a hero.

However, as soon as he got up, Samurott grabbed his shoulder and forced him back into his seat. He then grunted, "Sit down and let a hero handle this!" the robber's eyes wide with terror when he noticed the sea lion race toward him.

"Stay back!" he shouted before he aimed his pistol forward and fired. Yanma squeaked in panic and clasped her arms over her mouth when the bullet struck Samurott's shoulder.

However, the sea lion ignored the hole that formed as a result and delivered a hard karate chop to his neck. This was more than enough for the man to cough up blood and feel dazed. Thus Samurott lifted him up and leaned backward, planting the back of his head into the floor.

The customers all watched while Samurott released the man and allowed him to collapse. And soon enough, the area filled up with cheers and applause while Yanma breathed a sigh of relief. She then flew toward Samurott and examined his shoulder to make sure he was okay.

The sea lion noticed this and smirked, saying, "Don't worry about it. A bullet's nothing," but when Grimmsnarl ran over to check up on him as well, all Samurott could say was, "Oh, hey, you didn't try to run away. Knew we'd catch you, didn't you?"

The goblin stared before remarking, "For your information, I came over to make sure you weren't hurt!" only for the sea lion to narrowed his eyelids and retort, "I didn't ask for your concern."

Grimmsnarl stared at this while Yanma retorted, "Hey, Samurott, what is wrong with you!?" the sea lion glaring at her and retorting, "Are you serious!? You may buy that this creature wants to change, but I don't! If we let him do as he pleases, he could murder us at any moment! I won't let that happen!"

Grimmsnarl gritted his teeth and clenched his fists before barking, "You know what!? Fuck you!" everyone in the area staring in stunned silence, "I'll admit, I wasn't entirely sure whether I truly wanted to follow my sister's example! But if this is the kind of treatment I'm gonna get, then screw it! I'd be better off behind bars!"

With that, he stomped toward the door and threw it open before racing off into the distance. Yanma gasped and held her arm out, shouting, "WAIT, COME BACK!" Samurott's eyes wide with shock as he uttered, "Did... did he just leave our sight?"

Yanma scowled at him before she got up and flew off, the sea lion barking, "Hey, what was that for!?" getting up and following her just in time for the police to show up and arrest the robber.

Grimmsnarl stormed through town with pure fury in his expression. This whole situation felt beyond unfair. Morgrem and her friends had been forgiven for their actions so easily and yet the goblin could not even get so much as a chance to prove himself. And when he saw his reflection in a window, he let out a sigh and placed his hand against it.

"What makes me worse than them?" he grunted, "It's not like my actions were any worse than theirs. I'm sure plenty of former villains have done worse. Hell, I know some of them have done worse. Hell, back in the twenty tens, Lucario committed murder!"

A few citizens stared silently at him as he tensed up. But just as it looked like anyone could report him to the authorities at any moment, everyone gasped when what looked like a net shot toward a small group and captured them.

"What the-?" Grimmsnarl uttered when the owner of the net leapt off of a nearby building and lifted it up like a sack, saying, "You'll make some mighty fine hostages."

The goblin stared in shock as the culprit in question was a purple tarantula with yellow fur covering her arms, legs, feelers and head. She also had matching markings along her abdomen and blue fur under it.

Just as she was about to seek out a news crew to capture, she noticed Grimmsnarl and implied a smirk with her eyes. She then pointed at him and quipped, "Looks like my first victim is already here! And if you don't accept my challenge, I, Galvantula, will eat all of these tasty morsels!"

The humans all trembled as Grimmsnarl clenched his fists. This was it, his last chance. If he could defeat Galvantula, perhaps at least the citizens of Baia Mara would accept him. But just as he was about to accept her challenge, a familiar voice entered the area and barked, "RAZOR SHELL!"

The goblin groaned when Samurott descended into the area with both seamitars unsheathed. And before Galvantula could respond, she took two fierce slashes to her back. Her eyes were wide with shock as green blood spewed out, the nearby citizens cheering.

Yanma flew overhead and breathed a sigh of relief, glad they had made it before things could get worse. She then flew over to the net with the citizens and said, "Don't worry, you're safe now."

She placed all four of her arms against the part that was tied up and curled her tail between her legs. She then extended two spikes located on the tip to resemble scissors and used them to cut open the material. And when Grimmsnarl saw this, he let out a sigh and plopped himself down. Of course no one needed his help, not when they had two perfectly competent heroes and only one villain to fight.

And it seemed his assumption was right when Samurott delivered an onslaught of karate chops to Galvantula. He then took hold of her shoulder and leaned his head back, shouting, "SPEAR HEADBUTT!"

But just as he was about to pierce the tarantula's skull, his eyes widened when he found himself unable to move his head forward. And when he turned his eyes back, he noticed quite a bit of silk coming from her abdomen and binding not only the head but his arms, legs and tail as well.

Yanma gasped, "SAMUROTT!" and flew toward both of them only for Galvantula to send a surge of electricity into her silk and shout, "STICKY POWER LINE!" Samurott crying out in agonizing pain when it coursed through his veins.

Things only got worse when Galvantula soon covered him in a net of his own and lifted him up by the part that was tied up. She then swung him around like a flail and hurled him hard into Yanma. And when he made contact, both heroes coughed up a bit of phloem and fell hard against the ground while the tarantula exclaimed, "STICKY POWER LINE PROJECTILE!"

The citizens all stared in horror while Grimmsnarl continued to sit with his arms crossed, thinking, 'Whatever. It serves them right, anyway. Even if I finished what they started, they'd just tell me they didn't need my help or some shit like that.'

However, just as he had thought this, his eyes widened and his teeth gritted when Galvantula bound Samurott in more of her silk and drew him to her. She then held his head right up to her face and said, "I owe you for those cuts to my back. I think your head will do nicely."

But just as it looked like she was going to eat him, Grimmsnarl leapt toward her and barked, "GET AWAY FROM MY ALLIES!" with his foot raised. The tarantula looked up with her eyes wide just in time to receive an axe kick to her skull.

The people in the area watched in amazement while the goblin latched his ankles to the area just below Galvantula's head. He then leaned down her backside and grabbed her ankles before flipping himself and her one hundred and eighty degrees, planting the back of her head into the ground. When he saw her unleash silk from her abdomen, he immediately released his hold and distanced himself, and while this did allow her to rise back to her feet, she was still annoyed.

"I just realized who you are," she hissed, "That's right, you're that guy who was beaten by his little sister. Guess they weren't lying when they said you turned traitor."

Yanma recovered just enough strength to see this while Grimmsnarl smirked and retorted, "Yeah, maybe I did. What are you gonna do about it, shit stain?" the tarantula fuming and going down on all fours, crawling toward him with sparks forming on the tips of her feelers.

Once close enough, she lunged at him only for the goblin to run under her. After doing so, he held his arms up and grabbed hold of her waist. Finally, he leaned backward and planted the back of her head into the ground while the people in the area all cheered and applauded him.

When Grimmsnarl released his hold on Galvantula, his eyes and mouth widened with shock. Now he understood why any villain would willingly switch to the side of good. The fact that all of these cheers were for him was simply incredible.

However, he had to remember to stay on high alert when Galvantula regained focus and performed a handstand. She pointed her abdomen at Grimmsnarl and unleashed her silk only for the goblin to smirk and say, "Big mistake," sharpening his hair and swinging his head forward, shouting, "GRIZZLY DAGGERS!"

Sure enough, this was more than enough to slash the silk open while Galvantula stared with her eyes wide with terror. And with her distracted, Grimmsnarl leapt toward her and kicked her hard in the gut. He then latched onto her arms and bit into her shoulder, grunting through clenched teeth, "This is a move my sister created, and I actually rather like it."

He leapt into the air and leaned backward, shouting, "FANG SUPLEX!" before ramming the back of Galvantula's head into the ground. This caused her to cough up blood before her eyes closed, the goblin releasing her and allowing her to collapse and pass out.

After half a minute passed, everyone could tell the tarantula was out cold. As such, they all cheered and chanted, "GRIMMSNARL! GRIMMSNARL!" repeatedly while the goblin grinned and released a small tear. He never knew just how much he needed this in his life and thought that he could get more of it only made him happier.

Yanma nodded her head with an implied smile when Samurott opened his eyes and groaned, "Oh, god, what happened?" The dragonfly pointed at the goblin and the unconscious tarantula, the sea lion staring at this with his eyes and mouth wide open. And when he heard everyone chanting Grimmsnarl's name, it did not take him long to figure out what all of this meant.

As such, he took a deep breath and rose to his feet. Grimmsnarl blinked when he noticed this, frowning slightly when he saw a serious look in Samurott's eyes. However, it seemed his concerns were unneeded when the sea lion smirked and said, "Hey, good job, friend," holding up his fist and slugging him lightly on the shoulder.

While an apology would have been nice, his acceptance was more than enough. As such, Grimmsnarl grinned and shook his hand, the citizens cheering louder than before.

'Well, what do you know?' the goblin thought while Yanma approached him with a sweet look in her eyes, 'All I needed to do was give them a reason to trust me. Morgrem, Mom, Dad, you were right.'


	16. Chapter 16

It was a fine day in Edmonton, a very peaceful one in fact. As such, Allie called up everyone to suggest that they all hang out today. Though she did have a specific location in mind that she chose to surprise the group with.

As such, she had Brian and Wendy drive her to Vaporeon's house. And when they arrived, she stepped out and approached the door, ringing the bell with a big child-like grin.

It was not long until Drizzile answered the door since he knew full well who it would be. A big smile formed on his face before he said, "Hey, Allie. We're all set for our day on the town."

The human girl noticed him dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and giggled, "I can see that," the chameleon rubbing the back of his head and letting out a light chuckle.

Soon enough, the others arrived at the door and gave a nice friendly wave. Rillaboom wore a pair of pants and a sleeveless top, Scorbunny had a baseball cap, shorts and a red T-shirt and Vaporeon wore a green top of her own. Needless to say, all four of them were ready for a day on the town.

Brian had come in the family van since he knew that would be a much better choice for such a big crowd. Though there was another reason, and this was made clear when Scorbunny asked, "We are picking up Morgrem and Rolycoly, right?"

"Of course," Brian replied only for Wendy to murmur, "I dunno. Do we have to bring them?" Allie giving her an odd look. The woman saw this in the mirror and sighed, "Right, I know. It's just, I still haven't completely gotten over the fact that they assisted in your kidnapping."

Allie hugged the woman from behind and said, "I really appreciate that. Really, I do, but it's fine. They were just confused and misguided," as Rillaboom nodded and added, "Yeah, just like us."

Wendy pouted for a little longer before a smile formed on her face. She had to admit they had a point.

Soon enough, the van pulled up in front of an apartment complex. As it so happened, despite Morgrem having spent most of her life living in a manor, she did not have particularly high standards when it came to living conditions. As such, she felt that easily affordable accommodations were more than good enough.

Before they could even head inside, Morgrem spotted them out the window from the forth floor and waved to them, yelling, "Hey, guys!" only for one of her neighbours to retort, "Hey, keep it down!"

It was not long until Morgrem and Rolycoly were at the entrance, though only the goblin had worn anything casual, specifically a rather ratty T-shirt. Rolycoly had discovered that he could not wear full tops for reasons that should have been obvious, so he only wore sleeves.

"So, where are we going?" Morgrem enquired with a grin only for Scorbunny to chuckle, "We don't know either. Apparently, it's a surprise," the goblin replying, "Oh, we like surprises."

"But only non-threatening ones," Rolycoly uttered with a light chuckle before Allie rolled her eyes and said, "Rest assured, this won't be threatening in the slightest."

And so, all nine were on their way. Morgrem shook excitedly in her seat while Rolycoly had to be held by Rillaboom. Due to his lack of legs, he was unable to wear a seat belt and felt beyond grateful for her help. All the while, Wendy did her best not to let their presence get to her while Brian opened a window and breathed in the fresh air.

After a while, Allie smiled and pointed at the window to show the others that they were almost at their destination. And Vaporeon was the first to stare in awe when she noticed the place in question was a large mall that she had wanted to visit for the longest time. Why she had never gone on her own up to this point was anyone's guess, but this was the best thing she could have asked for.

Morgrem looked at this and uttered, "That's a large building," Rolycoly saying, "Yeah. I've looked this up. It's supposed to be the biggest mall in the world," Vaporeon replying, "Biggest in Canada, anyway."

Soon enough, the van was parked as Brian smiled and said, "Have fun, kids," Scorbunny asking, "You're not coming in with us?" only for the man to sigh, "I'd love to, but I have some stuff to take care of at home."

Wendy nodded and added, "I don't, but I'd rather the seven of you enjoy yourselves without us around," before Morgrem suddenly clasped onto her hand and said, "It means so much that you trust us. We promise we'll make sure your daughter is safe."

The woman stared briefly at her before chuckling nervously and prying her hands away from her. She then uttered, "Um, yeah, okay," and re-entered the van. Though deep down, a part of her felt like she could trust the goblin. She had detected sincerity in her tone and expression.

Either way, both parents waved goodbye and took off before Vaporeon grinned wide and squealed, "So, what are we gonna do first!?" Drizzile resting a hand on Allie's shoulder and saying, "You're the party planner today."

And so, Allie showed them all some of her favourite places. First, she took them to the theatre, the heroes all truly amazed by this. This was the nicest theatre they had ever seen. Although Drizzile was a tad nervous when Allie chose the latest horror film.

However, while they all watched the movie, the chameleon felt at ease with his friend next to him. After all, she had helped him gain a sense of self worth. This was nothing compared to his fight with Runerigus.

Once the movie was over, Allie treated everyone to steam buns at a supermarket located inside the mall itself called T&T. She also bought a few salad rolls to go with it, and while Morgrem and Rolycoly were hesitant to try those, the girl insisted that they eat them.

It was soon made clear why when she took them to an indoor amusement park called Galaxy Land. Scorbunny's jaw dropped as she could not believe something like this could fit inside of a shopping mall. Nevertheless, everyone was more than excited for this, all except Drizzile.

He had always been terrified of the idea of going on a fast ride high above the ground. But all Allie had to do was touch his hand for him to at least try a few. And in the end, he wound up enjoying the experience just as much as everyone else, especially after he found out there was more to do in an amusement park than go on rides.

The group spent a good couple of hours there before taking a seat in front of a fountain. Scorbunny lay on a stool with a cushion and said, "This is the best day of my life, hands-down," before Rillaboom nodded and added, "We should come here more often."

"Thanks for bringing us along," Drizzile said with a sweet smile, Allie nodding and replying, "It was no problem at all. I've been meaning to hang out with you guys here for a while now."

At that moment, Vaporeon noticed a group of teenagers looking at their phones. Her curiosity peaked when she overheard one of them mention a news report from Hero Planet that had been posted all over the Internet a little over an hour ago. As such, her eyes widened as she whipped out her own phone and started searching for the report in question.

"What's up?" Scorbunny enquired before the fox's jaw dropped and she squeaked, "Everyone, look at this!"

She then played a video in which Shaymin was seated behind her office desk with a smile on her face. She looked at the camera and stated, "Things are looking great in the world right now. There hasn't been a whole lot of villainy, and it's all thanks to the hard work and determination of our loyal Hero School graduates. As such, I think it's time to announce the return of a time-honoured tradition."

"Wait, she can't possibly mean what I think she does," Vaporeon uttered before the other heroes stared at her in confusion, the fox remarking, "Oh, come on, you guys must have heard of this."

It seemed that her suspicions were true when Shaymin stated, "That's right, we're gonna hold the thirty third Hero Olympics, and it will take place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada!"

All six heroes stared in stunned silence, none of them able to believe just how convenient this was. But it was also pretty incredible. However, there was one major detail that mattered most to them.

"Now, signing up is simple enough," Shaymin explained, "The first thing you must do is head to one of five cities in your home country. Yes, normally, it would be three, but we're gonna change things up a bit and accept five contestants from each country. The locations you can choose from will be listed on the official Hero Olympics website. Those who have signed up will take part in a mini tournament consisting of four fighters. Whoever among the four comes out on top will qualify for the Olympics themselves."

Morgrem stared and grinned at Rolycoly, asking, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" the golem tensing up before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yeah, this is worth it."

"You'd all better hurry and sign up soon!" Shaymin stated, "You don't have much time!" Allie's eyes sparkling as she squealed, "Not only do I get to see you all compete, but I get to see it all in person!"

She then turned to Drizzile and noticed him staring off into space. He blinked and asked, "Right, Drizzile?" the chameleon snapping back to reality and uttering, "Yeah. This should be fun."

The others looked at the locations and were surprised to find one tournament in each of their hometowns. This meant they could visit their parents, and the ones most interested in that were Scorbunny and Rillaboom. After all, it had been quite a while to say the least.

Either way, Vaporeon grinned with excitement and squealed, "This is gonna be amazing! I'm gonna be world champion, just like Aunty Umbreon!"

"Not if I become champion first," Scorbunny remarked with a smirk only for Rillaboom to stroke her chin and say, "I dunno, my chances seem higher," both sticking their tongues out at her.

Morgrem and Rolycoly joined in while Drizzile thought about this. While it was mainly a competition, this could also be a chance for him to really prove his skills to the world. But even so, while he was finally confident, could he really go through with this?

Either way, much like Scorbunny and Rillaboom, he did wish to reunite with his family. As such, he figured he may as well try out as well.

And thus the very next day, all five heroes headed to the airport to take their own separate flights. Vaporeon gave everyone a nice goodbye and held them all in a tight embrace. Once that was over, she noticed she would have to line up as soon as possible, thus she waved to everyone and headed off to take her own flight to Thailand, specifically Bangkok.

When he noticed his flight was next, Rolycoly trembled and uttered, "I just realized something, Morgrem. We're gonna be separated again," the goblin resting her hands against his, looking into his eyes and saying, "Come on, Rolycoly, you took on a bad guy all by yourself. You can handle something as minor as this, right?"

The golem thought about these words and nodded his head with a forced look of confidence. And so the duo headed toward their own planes. The golem gave an army salute with a light tear while Morgrem gave him a thumb up.

Soon, it was time for Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Drizzile to go head off as well. It had been quite some time since they had first met. At this point, it was hard to believe they would not be in the same country for at least a month.

Even so, the rabbit nodded to her friends and said, "You guys better win," Rillaboom smirking and remarking, "You know we will."

Drizzile nodded and stated, "Now that I have fighting spirit, there's no way I can lose." And with that, all three pounded their fists together before Scorbunny and Rillaboom headed off to take their own flights.

Just as Drizzile was about to take off, he noticed Allie, Brian and Wendy standing nearby with sweet smiles on their faces. He smiled and ran over to the human girl for one last embrace. Allie smiled sweetly and patted him on the back before she said, "Knock em dead, alright?"

"You bet," Drizzile replied with a grin. And with that, he turned and headed toward his own flight. As scary as this was, it was also exciting. Even if he did not win, he would still do the best he could.

Many hours passed until each arrived at his or her destination. Scorbunny exited her plane after it landed in Blyth, taking a deep breath and thinking, 'It's been a long time, but I'm home.'

Rillaboom had gone to Nairobi. When she stepped out of the plane, she smiled and thought, 'It feels good to be back. I hope my folks really are home. I really need to know how to control this,' looking at the leaves that covered her wrists.

Drizzile arrived at Dublin and breathed in the fresh air. He had a light smile on his face while he thought, 'This place is nicer than I remember it being,' before heading off toward his home. He hoped his mother would not be too mad at him for leaving for as long as he did.

Vaporeon was beyond happy to be back in Bangkok. She wanted so badly to just race to her house, but she also knew she would need to register for the tournament first. After all, there were only four slots as opposed to the usual eight.

Grimmsnarl had actually been informed of Morgrem's trip home, thus he gathered everyone together to greet her at the airport in Baia Mare. And sure enough, once she got off, she smiled at the sight of her parents and brother and ran forward into their warm embrace. The only downside was that Yanma and Samurott had gone to their own respective countries, but Morgrem was just happy to know Grimmsnarl had made friends here at all.

Rolycoly had gone to Athens, though he was not quite as happy to be here as the others. Unlike them, he had no family to go home to. His mother had been arrested ages ago, his father was dead and he dared not return to the orphanage he grew up in. As such, he simply headed off to register so he could focus on training and hopefully find a nice place to stay.

In Blyth, Scorbunny walked along the avenue with a smile on her face. Though when she remembered just how good her life had been, she could not help but feel a sense of guilt. After all, she had more or less turned against all of these nice people for a very stupid reason.

She then noticed a nearby fish and chips stand and bit her lower lip, thinking, 'No, I can't run away from this,' thus a serious look formed in her eyes before she marched over and stood in front of the front desk.

A middle-aged man smiled and asked, "Hello, what may I-?" his eyes wide with shock when he saw the rabbit there. A wide grin formed on his face as he placed his hands against the desk and enquired, "Scorbunny, is that you!?"

She smiled lightly and nodded her head, saying, "Yeah, I'm back, Mr. Aston. It's been a long time, hasn't it?" the man laughing and replying, "Boy, I'll say! I heard you're a big-shot hero in Canada, now! I suppose you're back for the Olympics, right?"

"You know about that?" the rabbit uttered only for the man to laugh, "Everyone in England knows about it! The way you and your mates saved a teenager from a group of monsters, got two of them on your side and how you beat that centipede inside a volcano. That's hardcore, that is."

"Oh, yeah, that," Scorbunny replied with a nervous smile, "Do you also know about, well, you know?" Aston folding his arms and sighing, "Aye, we all know about that. While I'm not entirely happy with such a decision, at least you realized you made a mistake before it was too late."

The rabbit stared at him while he added, "I'm sure most people here agree." Then after a few seconds of awkward silence, he grinned and asked, "So, you here for the usual?"

"Oh, of course!" Scorbunny squealed as the man laughed once more and exclaimed, "Alright! Sweet potato chips, coming right up!"

Once the rabbit received her container of sweet potato fries, her eyes sparkled as she picked up one and started to munch on it. She then rested her hand against her cheek and sighed, "I forgot how good these were."

With that, she reached into a handbag she had brought with her only for Aston to shake his head and say, "Oh no, this one's on the house," Scorbunny staring before a big smile formed on her face. As such, she could not resist the urge to leap up onto the desk and embrace the man's head with one arm.

Aston chuckled and patted her on the back, saying, "It's good to see you," before Scorbunny leapt off and headed away from the stand while waving happily at him. After all, she still wanted to see her parents as soon as possible.

And after a while, she stood in front of her old house and took a deep breath. She slowly approached the door and held up her hand, knocking on it. She then held her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth on the heels of her feet with a slightly nervous look.

After roughly twenty seconds, the door opened and a young human woman with amber brown hair stood there. As soon as she saw the rabbit, her eyes widened and she gasped, "Scorbunny, sweetie, is that you!?"

Scorbunny nodded before she was picked up and held in a tight embrace. While she may have been in her teens, she was still the same height she had been when she turned ten, so it was still possible for her mother to hold her like this.

Feeling the woman's chest against her face put Scorbunny at ease, thus she wrapped her arms around her and returned the gesture. And soon enough, she was led to the living room where a tall rabbit was on the couch watching Soccer, or as they called it in England, Football.

While the upper half of his body was mostly covered in white fur, his lower body had mostly red fur that went all the way down to his knees, much like a pair of pants with yellow tufts of fur that resembled a lower half rolled up. On his thighs were yellow diamond-shaped markings and the rest of his legs were blue much like long socks, his toes also red. He also had red fur on his skull that resembled a bicycle helmet and blue fur on his shoulders and under his neck that looked like a holster for a backpack.

Just as his team was about to score, he turned away from the screen when his wife said, "Cinderace, honey, look who's here."

"This better be important, Lilly," he sighed after he heard the announcer mention that the team had, indeed, scored, "That was really bad t-" his eyes wide with shock when he noticed just who their 'guest' was. His jaw dropped while he turned the TV off and got up from his seat.

Much like Lilly, he could not help but hold his daughter up in a tight embrace, though he took it a step further and twirled with her, shouting, "Oh, thank the heavens! My baby girl is back!" Scorbunny wheezing, "Can't breathe! Need oxygen!"

The taller rabbit gasped and held her away from his chest, chuckling nervously and uttering, "Right," before setting her back down and kneeling down to her level. He then gave her a light punch on the shoulder before she returned the gesture.

A few minutes later, all three were seated while Scorbunny told them about all that had happened recently. After all, the only thing her parents knew about was that she had defeated three villains in Edmonton. When she mentioned all this other stuff, such as her human friends and how the second villain had joined her team, Lilly and Cinderace both had stars in their eyes while they stared at her in awe.

"My god, my little girl's accomplished more than I did back in the day," Cinderace uttered before Lilly chuckled, "That's true. Lord knows you did get your arse kicked a lot," the tall rabbit narrowing his eyelids and remarking, "Thanks, honey. You didn't have to mention that."

Scorbunny blinked in confusion until Lilly added, "You did win a lot of fights as well, though. I remember, you had a reputation for defeating just as many villains as you lost to," Cinderace nodding with slight irritation in his expression while he grumbled, "You're not helping."

He then shook his head and grinned at Scorbunny, saying, "That hardly matters, anyway. What does matter right now is our little girl kicking everyone's arse in the Olympics," the rabbit uttering, "About that, Dad, I was wondering if maybe you could help me prepare for that."

Cinderace stared at her for a few seconds before a light smile formed and he replied, "Well, of course. I'd be delighted. Why would you even ask that?" the rabbit sighing, "Well, there's more to it than that. The thing is, well, my last victory wasn't exactly what I'd call impressive. It barely felt earned."

"What are you babbling about?" Cinderace remarked with his hand against his hips, "I saw that win on the telly. You slammed his skull into the canvas like a boss!" only for the rabbit to sigh, "No, I took a gamble and got lucky. On top of that, I would have won so much more easily if I'd been more prepared. What I'm saying is that, well, I've started to realize I'm not much of a strategist."

Cinderace blinked as Lilly nodded and folded her arms, saying, "You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" the tall rabbit laughing nervously and rubbing the back of his head.

Scorbunny stared as he said, "Your mum's right. The reason I lost so many matches back in my time was because I was rash at first. I'd always go into a battle thinking my speed and strength were enough and that I'd never have to look for weaknesses or anything like that. But, you know, the fact that you realize that is good. And besides, even though you lost to that weird dog, you did come up with good tactics against her."

The small rabbit stared at him as she knew he was right. Lilly nodded at this and enquired, "Do you know why you managed to pull off all those good strategies against her?"

"Well, it's because I'd been weakened," Scorbunny replied, "I barely had any time to recover and I didn't want Rillaboom's match with her to be too difficult. So I figured I'd fight more logically."

"Well, that's already better than what I was like," Cinderace replied with a grin, "I didn't even care what condition I was in. I'd always barrel into danger without thinking. And I don't even think you need my advice," Scorbunny staring at him while he continued, "It's obvious, ain't it? All you need to do is use tactics like that all the time, not just when you're battered and bruised. Fight like that at full strength and there's nothing you can't do."

The short rabbit blinked and slapped her forehead, scoffing, "You're right, that was obvious!" before chuckling and asking, "Still, would you spar with me a little?"

Cinderace smirked and replied, "Of course. In fact, let's have us a real match after supper, eh? We still have that ring in the back yard."

Scorbunny's eyes sparkled while she nodded with a big open-mouth smile. She could not wait to test her skills against her father. If anything, this could very well pass as a graduation match, much like what the students on Hero Planet had to perform.


	17. Chapter 17

Scorbunny felt more than ready when she entered her old back yard. Sure enough, just as Cinderace said, there was a wrestling ring right in the middle with a small wooden bench set up just like a bleacher.

Lilly walked over to it and took a seat while both rabbits leapt high into the air and landed firmly against the mat with their arms spread out dramatically. They both stared each other down as the tall rabbit smirked and thought, 'You'd better be ready for this. Just 'cause I'm past my prime doesn't mean I can't still kick arse.'

Lilly smiled when she noticed just how prepared they were and thus she rose her hand in the air and shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it is now time for the ultimate showdown between father and daughter! Begin!"

As soon as she threw her arm downward, Cinderace wasted no time racing toward Scorbunny. The small rabbit narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'Even though I'm at full strength, I need to wait for an opening.'

However, she could not really see one, and this proved to be quite a big hindrance when Cinderace and leapt sideways into the ropes and bounced himself off, sending a flying kick into her ribcage. Scorbunny gasped and flew into the ropes. And when she bounced off, her father waited for her to get close before delivering a roundhouse to her gut.

Scorbunny gasped and fell on her back while her father leapt from side to side one leg at a time and quipped, "Oh, yeah, I still got it! Even at this age, you can't keep up with me!"

Scorbunny slowly pushed herself up and breathed heavily, thinking, 'No way. I knew Dad was tough, but I didn't think he'd be this tough,' before narrowing her eyelids and rising all the way to her feet.

Cinderace once again sprinted toward her, only this time he leapt over her head and landed behind her. And with the short rabbit distracted, he spun around and delivered a roundhouse to her back, causing her to fall on her belly. He then lay on his back and latched his legs to hers before using them to twist the parts in question.

Scorbunny cried out in pain while Cinderace smirked and said, "You can't be ready to quit already. We've only just gotten started."

Scorbunny struggled to free herself but to no avail. Lilly, all the while, rested her chin on her knuckles and observed all of this with a serious look in her eyes. She could see right away what her daughter had done incorrectly, but she also knew better than to say anything. After all, if she did, the short rabbit would not learn a thing.

After a while, Scorbunny let down light tears and patted her hand against the canvas, whimpering, "I give up," Cinderace releasing his hold on her and wiping sweat off of his forehead.

"Wow, what a rush," he said after he released a light breath, "I haven't felt this level of excitement in years." But once he noticed the tears in his daughter's eyes and a look of shame on her face, he took a deep breath and rose to his feet.

Scorbunny looked up when he extended his arm and said, "Cheer up, lass. Just because you lost this match doesn't mean you're hopeless."

Scorbunny took his hand and allowed him to pull her up, but she was unsure whether or not she truly believed what he had said. She had never felt this much self-doubt in her life. Even her loss to Vaporeon, while quicker, had not crushed her spirits this much.

Lilly could see this plain as day, thus she turned to Cinderace and asked, "Honey, can you leave us alone for a few minutes?" the tall rabbit about to protest. But when he saw how serious she was, he nodded and leapt out of the ring before heading back into the house.

The woman approached the side of the ring and climbed into it. She then walked over to Scorbunny and knelt down, resting her hands on her shoulders and saying, "Your father's right. You could have easily won that match if you had done things right."

"But I did!" Scorbunny retorted with a look of frustration, "I actually took the time to think of a way to catch him off guard," only for her mother to sigh, "I could see that. You were certainly thinking harder than usual, but there is such a thing as overthinking these things. You were so focused on trying to come up with a strategy that you didn't notice that your father had left himself open both times he went in for the attack."

Scorbunny blinked and reflected on all of that before gasping, "You're right! He did!" a big smile forming on her face, "When he leapt at me from the side, I could have countered with a roundhouse before his kick could connect! And when he leapt behind me, I could have struck him first!"

Lilly nodded and said, "You've had more than enough combat experience to know that there's more to a match than knowing what to do. Sometimes, you have to live in the moment and think just hard enough without trying too hard. Try too hard and you waste time that could be spent getting the drop on your opponent."

With all of that in mind, Scorbunny took a bit of a break before challenging her father to a rematch. Since she had surrendered, she had not taken too much damage, and thus an hour was enough for her to make a full recovery.

Cinderace folded his arms with a smirk and said, "Well then, this should be good. I'm certain you'll be able to best me this time," the short rabbit grinning and replying, "I'm certain of that too."

Once again, Lilly signalled the start of their match as Cinderace sprinted toward Scorbunny. However, he also knew better than to use the same opening tactic. After all, he had no doubt she had already figured out how to counter the moves he had used before.

As such, he started to swerve to the right, but when Scorbunny readied herself, she was shocked when the tall rabbit remained in front of her. And with her distracted once again, he shifted his body sideways and rammed both his fist and foot into her gut, causing her to back up and clutch onto that very spot with her eyes twitching.

Lilly, all the while, narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'Come on, Scorbunny, you can do this. Don't think too hard,' and sure enough, when Cinderace leapt into the air and descended toward Scorbunny with his knee pointed outward, she was ready.

She waited for just the right moment, and once he was a mere centimetre away, she propelled herself high into the air. As a result, his knee hit the canvas hard before he winced and released a light tear of his own. Scorbunny then smirked and descended toward him with her foot on fire, shouting, "BURNING MISSILE!" ramming her heel hard into his forehead.

Cinderace cried out in pain and flew backward. He then tumbled along the canvas and rolled under the ropes, falling out of the ring. Lilly smiled and gave her daughter a thumb up before starting a twenty count.

But of course, both knew this was not over, and this was made clear when Cinderace placed his hands firmly against the ground and propelled himself into the air. He then flipped one hundred and eighty degrees and landed against the ring's surface only to wince and think, 'Back in my prime, I could have taken a hit like that. Come on, don't let her see how much damage that actually dealt.'

Though Scorbunny hardly cared about this right now. She had the biggest smile on her face and thought, 'I did it! I saw through his strategy!' only for Cinderace to race toward her again. He once again attempted to fake her out only for the short rabbit see this coming and leap into the air, planting both her feet into his face.

This caused him to stumble backwards a bit, though he quickly shook the pain off and leapt over Scorbunny's head. This time she was ready as she spun around and sent a roundhouse into his back before he could take this further, the tall rabbit falling flat on his face.

Scorbunny smirked, leapt into the air and planted an axe kick into his back as he coughed up a bit of phloem. However, he would not allowed her to defeat him this easily, thus he pushed himself up as soon as she leapt away from him and planted a two-legged kick into her chin.

But while this sent her flying backward, she threw her arms back and used them to stop her fall. She then flipped herself upright and breathed lightly, a look of confidence in her eyes.

"Good job, honey," Cinderace said with a grin, "But this is far from over," racing toward her and readying a kick.

But just as it looked like he was going to attack her, he stopped his foot and sped behind Scorbunny. Before she could respond, he leapt over and planted both feet into her head, knocking her down. And once again, he lay down and latched his legs onto hers. He then folded them over to form a figure four before shifting his left leg between a gap between her legs.

Scorbunny cried out in pain as he applied full force, Lilly thinking, 'Come on, you've got him. You can get out of this. You know how.'

The short rabbit tried to ignore the pain and thought hard about this. And after a few seconds, she remembered exactly how to escape from this hold. As such, she applied all her might to flip her body sideways, Cinderace's eyes wide with shock when she flipped herself onto her belly thus taking the pressure off of the leg sticking outward. She then slipped it out of the tall rabbit's hold and rose to her feet with a look of satisfaction on her face.

Cinderace sprang upright as well and smirked, saying, "Good show, honey. Couldn't have done that better myself," a look of pride forming on Scorbunny's face. But even so, she could not let her guard down when the tall rabbit raced toward her and started to zip around the area once again.

She was prepared for him to launch himself off the ropes like he had done in their first match. However, she was unprepared when he stopped right in front of her with his leg on fire and shouted, "PYRO FOOTBALL KICK!" ramming his foot hard into gut.

For the first time in the match, Scorbunny coughed up blood. But even so, she would not allow herself to lose and thus she spread out her legs and stopped herself from flying backward. And when Cinderace saw this, he stood there spellbound and allowed the short rabbit to take hold of his ears and mount herself onto his back.

"BUNNY BLAZE KICK!" she exclaimed before ramming the heels of her feet into the back of his neck, Lilly nodding in approval while the tall rabbit fell forward and landed hard on his chin.

This was just enough to keep him down for ten seconds, thus Lilly rose her hand in the air and shouted, "And Scorbunny is our winner!" Scorbunny raising her arms in the air with a big open-mouth smile.

Cinderace pushed himself back to his feet before she turned to him and squeaked, "Dad!" running over to him and enquiring, "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you too badly, did I?"

"I'm fine," he replied, "But more so, I'm proud of my baby girl," before he ruffled the fur on the top of her head. Needless to say, Scorbunny could not have been happier. Now she truly felt ready for the Olympics.

But of course, Scorbunny was not the only one in need of advice. Upon her return home, Rillaboom was immediately greeted by her mother, a yellowish-green monkey with brown arms, bluish-green rings around her wrists and two long sticks that she used to hold a hair bun in place named Thwackey.

Her father, a tall man named Obasi, made some tea for the whole family to enjoy while Rillaboom told of her experiences in Edmonton. Unlike Scorbunny's family, hers did not watch a lot of TV or use the Internet and thus they were a tad out of the loop.

"Well, I have to say, it's nice to know you've made a name for yourself," Thwackey said with a sweet smile, "When we returned home and didn't see you here, we were beyond worried."

Rillaboom took a deep breath and replied, "Yeah. Sorry about that, Mama," Obasi taking a seat and sighing, "I still can't believe you actually have money to your name. Though you're not the only one. After we were released from prison, we went out and applied for real jobs. Granted, it took a while since after our release, most employers didn't trust us, but hey, it's a miracle we have jobs all things considered."

The gorilla bit her lip and looked down only for Thwackey to pat her hand and say, "Don't blame yourself for what we did, okay? You weren't the one who encouraged us to steal. It was a decision we made on our own."

"Yeah, because I was putting you in the hole," Rillaboom murmured only for both parents to give her a big hug. And while this did not change the past, this did help put her mind at ease as she returned the gesture.

Either way, the next hour went by rather nicely. Rillaboom had ultimately decided it was best to drop the subject of her and her family's past actions and thus they had a very nice chat about the good things going on in their lives.

While the three sat for dinner, Obasi smiled at Rillaboom and said, "Your friends sound like great people. If only we could afford to take a vacation, then we could come with you and meet them in person."

Rillaboom blinked and uttered, "Well, um, it is worth note that my flight here was free, and apparently, since I'm an official hero, the trip back will also be, you know, free," Thwackey shaking her head and protesting, "Oh no, you don't have to spend your money on us."

"Well, then, treat it as payment," Rillaboom replied before the monkey blinked and enquired, "Payment? For what?"

The gorilla held out her wrist and explained, "During my match with Dracovish, my wrist leaves turned into wood. That miracle is a big part of the reason I won. Do you know anything about that?"

Obasi and Thwackey both stared at one-another for a few seconds in stunned silence. Then once it all sunk in, the monkey grinned wide and laughed, "Oh, this is wonderful! You used the Abebe family power!" Rillaboom's eyes wide with shock when her mother held up her arms and closed her eyes.

Sure enough, her wrist rings spun rapidly until they transformed into wood. The gorilla continued to stare at this before stating, "I want you to teach me how to control that," the monkey nodding and saying, "Come. I have much to show you."

During this time, Drizzile walked through the streets of Dublin while his eyes shifted back and forth. Sure, he may have been a hero in Edmonton, but he was uncertain how the people here would react to him. However, he tensed up when he walked by his old school and noticed a certain quartet of people exit. His eyes were wide with terror as he just wanted to flee.

However, for some reason, he could not bring himself to do so. And sure enough, one of them, a tall boy with raven black hair, noticed him and pointed at him while saying something to his friends, specifically a shorter blond boy, a girl with brown hair and another with red hair and freckles.

Before the chameleon could vacate the area, though, the one with black hair held out his hand and exclaimed, "Hey, wait!" Drizzile biting his lower lip.

He had to remember, he was no longer the weakling he used to be. As such, he breathed in and out and turned to face them with a serious look in his eyes.

"Whoa, calm down," the boy said reassuringly, "We just want to talk," the girl with freckles nodding and adding, "We know we don't deserve it, but please hear us out."

As soon as Drizzile heard her say that, he had a feeling he could trust them. Besides, if they tried anything now, he could easily deal with them. With that in mind, he took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I'm listening."

"Look, we know we're the reason you left," the black-haired boy sighed, "You joined the side of evil because we treated you horribly. Honestly, it's a miracle you're fighting for the side of good."

"Oh yeah, we saw your fight with that ghost thing," the ginger girl said with a big smile, "You were so cool!" the brunette nodding and squealing, "The way you formed those knife things and destroyed his stone like that! That was hardcore!"

The blond boy nodded and chuckled, "I bet if you fought us now, we wouldn't stand a chance," the black-haired boy smiling and adding, "Anyway, we just wanted to apologize. The truth is, well, let's just say things at home haven't been great for us. You don't need to know the details, but, well, we took out our frustration on you since you were the only one who never fought back."

Drizzile blinked and thought, 'So that's how it is,' the brunette cupping her hands together and saying, "Even though we really, really, really don't deserve it, we'd like a chance to make it all up to you. Could you please give us that chance?"

Drizzile was about to question this, but deep down, he knew better than that. After all, Allie and her family had been so kind to him despite the fact that he had once fought for the side of evil. If anything, it would have been wrong for him to hold a grudge against the four of them.

As such, he nodded and said, "Yes, I'll be sure to join up with you later. But, well, before I do that, I need to see my folks first," the blond boy replying, "That's understandable. How about we all meet up here tomorrow at around the same time?"

Drizzile smiled and agreed to their terms. Though before he headed off, they all introduced themselves since he had never actually learned their names back when he attended classes. The boy with black hair was Kevin, the blond was Sean, the brunette was Tiffany and the ginger was Shannon.

Once introductions were taken care of, Drizzile headed off to his old house with a sense of accomplishment on his face. He had not even expected to run into them and yet his encounter had ended so favourably. And what was more was that deep down, he could tell none of them had said any of that out of fear. He had a feeling that they truly regretted their actions.

After a while, he came to his old house and rang the doorbell. He waited for a while until the door opened and a taller chameleon stood before him. She gazed down at him and stared silently before gasping, "Son?"

Drizzile's mother was not only twice his height but also very thin. While her head and tail were light blue, her eyelids and fins leading from her head to her lower body were yellow. Her torso was dark blue with a white diamond-shaped mark at the bottom, both colours formed in a way that resembled a spy outfit. Her hands were also black, making them resemble gloves, and the same went for her feet with her legs black at the front and dark blue at the back. Her name was Inteleon.

She breathed heavily while Drizzile suddenly tensed up. He had forgotten that when he disobeyed her, she often punished him severely. And there was no doubt she would not approve of what he had done.

Needless to say, he could not have been more shocked when the tall chameleon held him in a tight embrace and exclaimed, "I missed you so much!" though she quickly proved one of Drizzile's fears when she bonked him on the head and barked, "Now don't you ever worry me like that again! I just about had a heart attack when I heard you'd been arrested!"

Drizzile looked down with shame until she took a deep breath and added, "Still, at least you returned as a hero. Now come on inside. I'll make you some clam chowder."

The short chameleon took a deep breath and entered, though he still felt bad about his decision to leave home without warning. After all, his father had died when he was six, so he was the only family Inteleon had in Dublin. Either way, he was ultimately glad to have returned. Not only did he get to reunite with his mother, but he had possibly made some new friends. He would still take the Hero Olympics seriously, but for the time being, that was hardly a priority for him.

And sure enough, Vaporeon had a great time reuniting with her family in Bangkok. Eevee and Popplio were beyond happy to have her home, even if it was just for a month, and they promised to help her train as much as possible.

In Baia Mare, Morgrem and her family had some nice family time as well. Since all four had finally been accepted by the citizens, they were truly able to enjoy life to its fullest. But while Morgrem thought it might be nice to train with Grimmsnarl, he figured it might be better if he head to Alba Iulia since he had signed up for that tournament instead. After all, he wanted both of them to qualify for the Olympics, not just one or the other.

Rolycoly, on the other hand, wheeled through Athens and stopped to gaze upon the orphanage he spent most of his life in. He took a deep breath and thought, 'Well, Mrs. Camilla, you were wrong about me. I have a happy life now.'

He then carried on his way to train in the mountains. He figured if he wanted to be tough enough to stand a chance, this was just what he needed.

And the next month seemed to pass by quickly. Scorbunny continued to train with her father while also taking time to reunite with her old friends and apologize for leaving them. Some of them blamed themselves for her turning evil, but she reassured them they had nothing to do with that.

Rillaboom, meanwhile, trained hard with her mother and eventually not only learned to control her wood powers but also discovered other abilities she could perform with it. One such ability involved her actually forming hammers around her fists. Needless to say, she could not believe she had the foresight to come up with such a fitting name for this in advance.

Drizzile also learned quite a bit more about his water powers and how the daggers were not the only weapons he could form. However, unlike Thwackey, Inteleon decided to have Drizzile learn these skills on his own. She trusted him to do so.

And when he was not training, it seemed his feelings about his former bullies were correct. Not only were they nice to him, but since they no longer picked on him, all the other students who once felt sorry for him were happy to be his friends. It was truly amazing. Just like that, he had gone from having no one but his mother to being the most popular kid in his old school despite no longer being a student.

But while it was a tad overwhelming, it was also nice. While Drizzile had been happy with Allie and the others, he was much happier now. And with all of them rooting for him to win the Olympics, there was no way he would let them down.

And of course, the others did their best to prepare as well. Vaporeon trained hard with her folks until the last day when she had a sparring match with each of them. And while her father ultimately defeated her with a move that involved him launching himself off the ropes while spinning called Circus Windmill, she had beaten Eevee with her Trampoline Suplex. In the end, while the brown fox was a touch upset about this, she also could not have been more proud of her daughter.

Morgrem and Grimmsnarl both trained extra hard, knowing their allies would do the same while Rolycoly spent his time punching open various rocks in the mountains. This alone was enough to raise his confidence. He just knew he was prepared for this.

But preparing was one thing. Were the heroes truly ready for the preliminaries? Only time would tell.


	18. Chapter 18

A whole month had passed since the Hero Olympics had been announced, and as such, it was finally time for the preliminary tournaments to decide who would compete. Only five from each country would be accepted, so the pressure was on.

As it so happened, all six heroes of Edmonton had won the first round of each of their respective tournaments. This left them along with the friends they had made with one more match.

In Blyth, a woman sat behind a desk in an arena that was jam packed. Cinderace and Lilly were both in the crowd cheering while Scorbunny was face-to-face with her final opponent, a brown and white corgi with a thick yellow collar of fur and a stubby tail shaped like a lightning bolt named Yamper.

"And Scorbunny is on the top of her game as she delivers a fierce kick to Yamper!" the announcer exclaimed after Scorbunny bounced off the ropes and sent a hard flying kick to the corgi's face.

Yamper rolled backward into the turnbuckle and growled in pain while the crowd cheered wildly. As such, Scorbunny smiled and thought, 'All that training was worth it. I'll win this easily then become world champion.'

However, Yamper smirked and thought, 'Enjoy this moment while you can. It won't last,' rising back to her feet as if the pain dealt earlier meant nothing.

Scorbunny knew better than to rush in for another hit, thus she waited for the corgi to go down on all fours and race toward her. But just as it looked like the rabbit was prepared, Yamper smirked and tucked herself into a ball. She then covered herself in electricity and rolled around while an electric sphere formed around her and grew bigger and bigger the more she moved along the surface.

Scorbunny panicked and leapt to the right only for Yamper to see this coming and swerve in that direction herself. She barked, "THUNDERBALL!" and rammed herself into Scorbunny, sending her flying sideways as she coughed up a bit of blood.

Cinderace gasped, "Come on, sweetie, you can do it!" Lilly pumping her fist in the air and chanting, "Go, Scorbunny, go!"

"Fat chance!" retorted a yellow, white and black greyhound, "My little girl's got this one in the bag," lowering his eyelid and sticking his tongue out, Cinderace standing up and pointing at him, shouting, "You wanna go, prick!?"

Lilly took a hold of his arm and sighed, "Honey, do you want us to get kicked out?" before the taller rabbit folded his arms and grumbled, "Fine," the greyhound's wife scoffing, "Oh, wow, that poor bastard is whipped!"

A vein formed on Lilly's head as she held up her fist threateningly. Cinderace chuckled nervously before he pointed at the ring and exclaimed, "Hey, look!"

Sure enough, Scorbunny ignored the pain she took in earlier and performed a back flip into the ropes. She pressed her back against them and bounced off with her foot out and shouted, "BURNING ROCKET!"

Her foot burst into flame while Yamper was unable to respond in time. Thus she took the heel kick to her cheek and coughed up blood of her own. Afterwards, she flew into the ropes while Scorbunny's heel was still pressed up against her. And in a matter of seconds, the material snapped open, thus the corgi careened into the wall and passed out, a crater left in her wake while her eyes were stuck open and her tongue hung sideways out of her mouth.

After twenty seconds, the announcer rang the bell and exclaimed, "And after a very intense match, Scorbunny is our winner and therefor will represent England in the Hero Olympics!" the crowd going wild while Cinderace and Lilly held each other in a tight embrace. They then turned toward Yamper's parents and laughed at them before lowering their eyelids and sticking their tongues out.

Scorbunny held her fist in the air and thought, 'I did it. I'm on my way to the top.'

Meanwhile, in Nairobi, Rillaboom was up against what appeared to be a troll made of wood. A shaggy white mane covered most of his head and went all the way down his back. He had long pointy ears, a long pointed nose, feet that resembled tengu-geta and leaves for hands. His name was Shiftry and currently, he seemed to be dominating as he delivered an onslaught of palm punches to the gorilla.

Rillaboom held up her arms to block the incoming blows only for Shiftry to smirk and shout, "PINOCCHIO SPEAR!" sending his nose forward and ramming it into her gut.

The crowd stared while the gorilla grunted in pain. Thwackey and Obasi both winced at the sight of this, though their reactions got worse when they saw blood trickle out of the wound the nose had created.

And it did not end there as Shiftry held his arms out and started to spin his hands around like propellers. This allowed him to rise off of the ground and fly toward the turnbuckle, and when he rammed Rillaboom's back into the object, his nose pushed in deeper while he exclaimed, "HELICOPTER LANCE!"

Thwackey frowned and barked, "Come on, Rillaboom, you can take it!" many members of the crowd chanting her name.

This was all Rillaboom needed, thus she ignored the pain to her gut and placed a firm grip against Shiftry's arms. His eyes widened and sweat poured down his face while he uttered, "Hey, what are you doing? You can't possibly win at this point."

Rillaboom smirked and retorted, "Of course I can," pushing hard on his arms and prying his nose out of her. She then shoved him back and focused hard until her wrist leaves spun and transformed into wood. She then formed hammerheads around her fists and shouted, "WOOD HAMMER!" swinging both arms upward and ramming the hammerheads into the troll's chin.

This caused him to back up and lower his guard before Rillaboom wrapped her arms around him. She then gritted her teeth as spikes formed on the barrels that now covered her wrists. As they dug into Shiftry's back, he cried out in pain while a bit of blood squirted out.

The crowd went wild as she leapt into the air and leaned backward, shouting, "THORN BARREL SUPLEX!" ramming the back of Shiftry's head into the canvas before his eyes and mouth went wide.

When she let go and allowed him to collapse, he lay there for exactly ten seconds. Thus a man seated behind a desk rang the bell and stated, "And on that note, Rillaboom wins the match, thus securing herself a spot in the Olympics!" the crowd cheering wildly while Obasi and Thwackey rose their hands in the air and applauded their daughter.

The gorilla rose her own arms in the air in triumph with a grin on her face. There was no doubt she could become champion, especially now that she knew how to use her wood powers to their full potential.

In Dublin, Drizzile was up against a blue cormorant bird with white feathers over her chest named Cramorant. Currently, he was at a disadvantage as the bird flapped in midair and sent an onslaught of rapid kicks into his face while a woman stated, "It's not looking good for Drizzile, folks! The chameleon who surprised us all not too long ago is yet to land a single hit after having taken nothing but torment throughout this entire match!"

Inteleon frowned from the crowd and thought, 'Come on, son, you can counter this easily,' while Kevin, Sean, Tiffany and Shannon all held up a banner that said 'Drizzile rocks', shouting, "Come on, Drizzile! Beat that overstuffed turkey!"

After a while, the chameleon saw an opening. As such, he held up his arms and grabbed hold of Cramorant's ankles only for her to squawk in panic and send her long beak down into his skull. She kept at this only for Drizzile to ignore the pain and grunt, "Sorry, but you're grounded!"

He then threw his arms downward and planted her back into the canvas while the crowd cheered. The announcer watched this and exclaimed, "And after nothing but abuse, Drizzile finally lands a hit as he slams his opponent into the mat!"

Inteleon smiled and thought, 'Good job,' before Drizzile leapt into the air and delivered an axe kick to Cramorant's gut. But while this caused her some pain, she seemed to get over it quickly before latching onto his ankle with her feet.

She flapped her wings and rose up into the air, slamming Drizzile's back into the canvas before flying forward toward the turnbuckle. However, Drizzile knew better than to allow himself to ram into it, thus he formed water around his hands and lathered his leg, allowing himself to squeeze out of the hold.

Cramorant blinked and looked down, but forgot to slow down. Thus she subconsciously rammed into the turnbuckle and left herself wide open while Drizzile formed more water around his hands. This time, he morphed it into pair of shuriken, leapt onto Cramorant's back and wrapped his arms around her waist. This allowed him to plant the stars into her upper body before spinning them like saw blades and shouting, "AQUATIC SHURIKEN!"

He then leapt backward and planted the back of Cramorant's head into the canvas while the shuriken continued to spin. As if the blood flying from her chest was not bad enough, the liquid that escaped her mouth certainly guaranteed Drizzile's victory. As such, her head tilted sideways and her tongue stuck out before Drizzile released his hold and allowed the rest of her body to collapse.

The announcer rang the bell and stated, "Drizzile wins the Dublin tournament and will now represent Ireland in the Hero Olympics!" the crowd cheering wildly while the chameleon breathed a sigh of relief. His human friends could not have been happier while Inteleon folded her arms and nodded her head in approval.

Allie saw this from home and squealed with excitement. She felt so proud of Drizzile right now, and of course Brian and Wendy could not help but cheer for him even though they were not there in person for him to hear them.

There was also plenty of excitement in the Bangkok tournament as Vaporeon just happened to be up against Yanma. Currently, things seemed to be in the fox's favour when she whipped the dragonfly hard with her tail and sent her toward the turnbuckle.

Just as Yanma was about to make contact, though, she flapped her wings just hard enough for a gust of wind to pick up behind her. This was more than strong enough to stop her from making contact as she breathed a sigh of relief. However, her eyes widened when she noticed Vaporeon flip vertically toward her with the tip of her tail covered in a ball of ice.

"BOUNCING ICE BALL!" she barked only for the dragonfly to send her tail forward, extending the spikes on the tip and sending them inward like scissors.

The crowd cheered for her when this not only slashed open the ice but also managed to catch Vaporeon's tail. The fox cried out in pain while Eevee squeaked, "Come on, Vaporeon, that's nothing! I was once pierced by arrows, literal arrows!"

Popplio nodded and added, "Not to mention I was once slashed and stabbed multiple times by what might as well have been a samurai sword!" Eevee uttering, "Now that you mention it, that was worse."

However, Yanma was not about to give Vaporeon a chance to retaliate. Thus she threw her tail downward and shouted, "TAIL SCISSOR SLAM!" the blue fox's back making contact with the canvas as she winced in pain.

But while this hurt, this was nowhere near as bad as the pain Corviknight had put her through. As such, she ignored this and propelled herself upward before Yanma could break the hold on her tail. With that, Vaporeon rammed her forehead into the dragonfly's, causing her to groan in pain and release her.

Popplio grinned and shouted, "Tres magnifique! You got her right you want her!" before Eevee squealed, "Finish her off!"

Vaporeon was just about to use her Trampoline Suplex. However, she figured with her parents watching and this being the final round of a tournament, perhaps it would be best to use something different. With that in mind, she smirked and leapt backward, performing a handstand.

Before anyone could figure out what she had planned, Yanma gasped when the fox wrapped her tail around her neck. She then formed her ice ball on the tip of her tail again, the dragonfly's eyes wide open while she cried out in agonizing pain.

Vaporeon then leaned backward, pulling Yanma over her and rammed her skull into the canvas, shouting, "ICE FRANKENSTEINER!"

Yanma coughed up green blood and closed her eyes, Vaporeon releasing her hold and allowing her to collapse. And once ten seconds passed, a man rang the bell and stated, "And there you have it, folks! Vaporeon is our winner and will represent Thailand in the Hero Olympics!" the crowd cheering wildly.

"Wow!" Eevee gasped with her jaw dropped, "Not only did she win, but she invented a new signature move," Popplio chuckling, "She definitely takes after moi," the brown fox about to protest before uttering, "Oh yeah, I only ever came up with two original moves."

In Baia Mare, Morgrem was up against a pale purple bat with big teardrop-shaped ears that resembled loudspeakers. He also had fluffy black fur around his chest and hips and small hands on the middle joints of his wings. His name was Noibat and he was currently dominating the match as he flew toward the goblin and rammed his wing into her neck, shouting, "BAT WING SICKLE!"

A tall black bat named Noivern smirked and shouted, "Good job, son! Now, while she's distracted!" Impidimp and Dhelmise both biting their lips nervously.

Sure enough, things looked worse for Morgrem when Noibat picked her up by her shoulders and flapped high above the ring. He then shifted his feet and flipped the goblin over until he was clasping onto her ankles. With that, he descended toward the mat and shouted, "MOONLIGHT DROP!"

But just as Morgrem's skull was seconds away from making contact with the surface, a smirk crossed her face as she sharpened her hair. She then shifted her head around and caused the hair to bend backward, and sure enough, Noibat's eyes were wide with shock when the blade was lodged into the canvas thus keeping Morgrem safe from harm.

Before the bat could even respond, Morgrem bent her legs backward and rammed his back into the mat while her parents cheered, Impidimp shouting, "Way to go, Morgrem! That was quick thinking!"

However, Morgrem could not help but feel alarmed when Noibat continued to hold onto her ankles as if the pain to his back meant nothing. He then let out a loud cry and threw his legs upward until he managed to pry her hair out of the canvas. He then hurled her high into the air and shouted, "BOOMBURST!" releasing two big sound waves from his ears.

Once they reached the goblin's height, an explosion formed around her as she coughed up smoke and fell hard on her back. And while she lay there, a male announcer exclaimed, "And Noibat gets the upper hand with his father's infamous Boomburst!" starting the ten count while the bat's fans and father went wild.

Noivern grinned and thought, 'Wait'll I tell Candace about this. It's such a shame she had to work today,' but right when the announcer reached seven seconds, Morgrem opened her eyes, placed her hands against the mat and pushed herself into the air, landing perfectly on her feet with a look of terror in her eyes.

The crowd gasped while she shook the soot off her face and quipped, "You're gonna have to try harder than that!" Noibat flying toward her again only for the goblin to leap over him and sharpen her hair. She then sent it downward into his back and shouted, "GRIZZLY SPEAR!"

Blood flew from Noibat as he cried out in pain. The crowd stared in shock as she proceeded to spin her body horizontally and shout, "GRIZZLY FLAIL!"

Sure enough, this allowed her to spin Noibat along with her before planting his side into the canvas. This caused him to cough up more blood before his eyes rolled to the back of his head. And when Morgrem released him, he was out cold, thus the announcer reached ten seconds and rang the bell.

The area went silent while Noivern stared with his eyes and mouth wide open. Even Morgrem's parents were genuinely shocked by this. However, once the announcer made the red goblin's victory official, they both rose their arms in the air and cheered wildly, many other members of the crowd joining in. After all, with Morgrem's poor track record up to this point, this was a pretty big deal to say the least.

She rose her fist in the air before looking down at Noibat and noticing that he was still able to move his body. Thus she knelt down and held out her hand, saying, "Here's to an awesome match," the bat releasing tears and shaking her hand with the tip of his wing, replying, "Yeah. You were amazing."

"Oh, wow!" the announcer sniffed with tears in his eyes, "It's always so beautiful when a match ends in friendship!" holding his arm over his eyes and releasing large waterworks.

All the while, the people of Athens were in high spirits during the final bout. Rolycoly was currently face-to-face with an orange fox with black fur covering the tip of his tail, his legs, ears, back and eyes, the latter resembling a bandit mask. He had white fur on his belly and a curly moustache and was known as Thievul.

Things did not look particularly good for the golem. He had his arms up defensively while Thievul sped around him and delivered a roundhouse each time he stopped. All the while, he smirked, twirled his moustache and tauntingly quipped, "Just back down, foul cur! You do not belong in this competition of strength and wits!"

"Rolycoly is truly at Thievul's mercy!" a young woman seated behind a desk exclaimed, "And the crowd is loving it! While Thievul may have started his days here as a criminal, he has become a majorly popular hero, having defeated three villains in Wisconsin! Meanwhile, Rolycoly only has one victory on his record, and it especially doesn't help that he lucked his way into the finals!"

And unfortunately for Rolycoly, this was true. He had been so hyped to win the first round, but after he entered the ring, it was revealed that his opponent had sprained her ankle and would be unable to partake. And while the golem was used to luck repeatedly throwing him a bone, this instance left him dissatisfied.

With that in mind, he narrowed his eyelids and thought, 'No, I will win and show these people just how worthy I am of representing Greece!' And when Thievul stopped moving to attack again, Rolycoly grabbed his ankle and lifted him into the air, slamming his belly into the canvas.

The crowd gasped when Rolycoly propelled himself into the air and landed hard against the fox's back. He then started up his wheel and shouted, "MEDIEVAL SHARPENER!" scraping the wheel against the spot he had landed on.

The crowd gasped as Thievul cried out in pain. And it only got worse for him when Rolycoly grabbed onto his wrists and pulled up on his arms. This caused the fox's back to bend while the golem exclaimed, "MEDIEVAL TORTURE DEVICE!"

After a while, the crowd gasped when they heard Thievul's backbone crack. Thus Rolycoly released his hold and leapt off of him, breathing heavily. Sure enough, twenty seconds passed and the bell was rung, the announcer exclaiming, "And in a shocking turn, Rolycoly comes out on top and moves on to represent Greece in the Hero Olympics!"

As it so happened, some of the kids he had grown up with in the orphanage cheered for him while one pointed and shouted, "Hey, I recognize that guy!" another one nodding and replying, "I can't believe I didn't notice until now!"

When Rolycoly heard this, he smiled and thought, 'Well, now I can truly say I've earned myself respect from the public. I'm moving on up in the world.'

But of course, the heroes of Edmonton were not the only ones gaining positive attention. All over the world, many other heroes had come out on top. Corviknight, for instance, had defeated a blue serpent dragon named Dratini with his Steel Claw Tombstone.

He stood tall and proud with his arms and wings folded while his opponent lay battered and bruised on the mat. He bowed his head in respect before helping her up and holding up her arm, exclaiming, "Cheer not only for me but for my most worthy adversary!"

Dratini gazed upon the raven with sparkling eyes and pink cheeks while the crowd went wild, the announcer exclaiming, "It warms my heart to see sportsmanship this good! I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how Corviknight represents England!"

Corviknight let down a light tear and thought, 'This feeling is simply remarkable. Thank you, Vaporeon, for giving me this chance,' Dratini now a touch confused.

In Alba Iulia, Grimmsnarl was in the middle of a fight with a mummy ghost named Dusknoir. The ghost covered his fists in a black aura and sent an onslaught of punches into the green goblin's face, shouting, "SHADOW PUNCH!"

After a while, though, Grimmsnarl ignored the pain and grabbed hold of his fists. While the aura allowed his palms to take in some pain, he was able to easily ignore this and bite into Dusknoir's shoulder. He then leapt backwards and leaned far enough for the back of the ghost's neck to hit the canvas, shouting through clenched teeth, "FANG SUPLEX!"

The crowd cheered wildly when he released his hold and allowed Dusknoir to collapse. After ten seconds, his victory was confirmed, thus he flashed a peace sign in the air and shouted, "TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR NEW CHAMPION!"

Needless to say, the cheers he received gave him an incredible feeling. Perhaps some day this would not be as big a deal to him, but for the time being, he could not help but feel grateful to Morgrem for showing him the light. Much like Corviknight, he just knew he would have never been able to enjoy this otherwise.

In Warsaw, Samurott had struck down a blue walrus named Walrein with his Razor Shell. He rose his fist in the air while the crowd cheered for him, a grin of pride of his face.

In Bangalore, Copperajah and Incineroar were both up against one-another with each one pushing on the other's shoulders. However, when the tiger started to dominate, the elephant frowned and shouted, "ELEPHANT PUNCH!" curling up his trunk into a fist and sending it hard into Incineroar's gut.

Incineroar easily ignored the pain and planted his claws into the sides of the trunk. Small bits of blood dripped out while Copperajah ignored the pain and lifted the tiger over his head, leaning backward and planting the back of his neck into the canvas.

The crowd cheered while a young woman exclaimed, "It looks as if Incineroar might have met his match! This fierce feline has enjoyed a perfect winning streak up until now, but perhaps today is the day that comes to an end!"

However, Incineroar had anticipated this, and it showed when he continued to latch onto the trunk. Copperajah's eyes widened while he attempted to pry it loose only for Incineroar to position himself upright and yank as hard as he could, causing the elephant to slip and fall on his back.

With that, he released the trunk and leapt onto Copperajah's gut. He then lifted him up by his hind legs and wrapped his arms around him with a smirk on his face, grunting, "You should be proud. You're the first legitimately good opponent I've had, but that can only get you so far!"

Thus he leapt into the air and wrapped his legs around the elephant's neck. He then spun like a twister while flames surrounded both fighters courtesy of his belt, shouting, "PYRO HURRICANE!" And when Copperajah's skull hit the canvas, blood flew out of his trunk before he passed out, Incineroar's victory confirmed while the crowd went wild.

In Texas, Ben defeated a chunky squirrel named Greedent by kicking him in the back of the head and knocking him unconscious. This was the human equivalent to a move called Blaze Kick, but since he could not light his feet on fire, he called it Cowboy Kick.

And in Tokyo, a red caterpillar named Wurmple was up against Rockruff. Currently, the dog was dominating with an onslaught of palm punches before latching onto the caterpillar's arms and planting her claws into them. She then leapt into the air and leaned backward, shouting, "SUNRISE SUPLEX!" while a fierce brown aura surrounded her.

However, Wurmple was prepared for this as he took a deep breath and stated, "You truly are as formidable as I feared, but this ends here!" He then shot a rope made of silk out of his mouth, latched it to the turnbuckle right behind Rockruff and shouted, "STRINGSHOT GRAPPLING HOOK!"

Rockruff's eyes and mouth widened with terror when he reeled them both toward it. And sure enough, her back made contact with the pole as she coughed up blood and released her hold on Wurmple. With her now wide open, the caterpillar released his string one last time and bound it to her, lifting her up over his head and leaning backward, shouting, "STRINGSHOT SUPLEX!"

Sure enough, Rockruff's skull hit the canvas hard and she passed out for exactly ten seconds, the bell ringing and Wurmple's victory confirmed. He blinked and uttered, "Wait, I actually won?" as Rockruff slowly sat upright and rubbed her skull with a grin on her face and said, "Yeah. Good job, bro."

The crowd cheered even louder when the dog held out her fist, Wurmple pounding it with the tip of his arm. As soon as that happened, a green caterpillar named Caterpie and Lycanroc both ran from the bleachers and climbed into the ring before approaching the two fighters. The red wolf grinned and squealed, "Great job! You were both amazing!" Caterpie asking, "Who wants gyudon?"

Rockruff and Wurmple both nodded with enthusiasm before all four exited the arena, a woman named Yukiko exclaiming, "What a remarkable match! Despite both finalists being brother and sister, they both went all-out! I can only imagine how well Wurmple will perform in the Olympics, but I'm certainly excited to see it!"

And soon enough, every contestant had been chosen, but who would come out on top? The world would just have to wait and see.


	19. Chapter 19

With the participants for the Hero Olympics confirmed, every one of them took a flight to Edmonton. Needless to say, Vaporeon was looking forward to reuniting with her friends, even if they would only be able to enjoy one day of downtime before the event started.

And sure enough, when her plane landed, Allie and her parents were there waiting for her and the others to arrive. Surprisingly, it was not too long until they were all reunited, Vaporeon giving them all the biggest hug and telling them the good news. And while she was not surprised that the others won their respective tournaments, she still felt happy to compete with them nonetheless.

When Rolycoly told Morgrem how his match went, the goblin grinned and gave him a high five. In the end, all six had made it and they could not wait for everything to begin. Though before that, Brian offered to treat everyone to a fancy meal on him, and none of them could possibly refuse.

The day passed by with everyone now up to speed with how things had turned out. As it so happened, Rillaboom had convinced her parents to accept her offer to pay for their own flight tickets, so she knew they would be there to cheer her on. Scorbunny's folks, on the other hand, would support her from home as would Inteleon for Drizzile. As for Morgrem, only Dhelmise would be there since Impidimp had to work.

Either way, the day passed by and all six heroes had trouble getting to sleep. They knew they would need it since tomorrow would be a long day for them, but they could not contain their excitement.

And when noon rolled around, the seats at Commonwealth Stadium were jam-packed as not only were there tons of people from Edmonton but also from other countries. After all, many of them wanted to support their representatives in person.

Allie managed to get decent seats along with her parents as she squealed, "I can't wait for Drizzile to come out onto the runway!" Wendy nodding and replying, "Yeah, this is so cool," pulling out her phone, "I'm gonna record every moment."

Shaymin sat behind a podium along with Tori while the human woman exclaimed, "We are here live at Commonwealth Stadium where those competing will soon walk down this very runway! It's been many, many years since the Hero Olympics were held in Canada and let me tell you, it is an honour to host such an event."

"I can't blame you," Shaymin replied with a grin, "It's been quite a long time since we last held this. I simply can't wait to see how everyone does, especially with the events I have planned."

She then grinned and thought, 'Past chairmen have always gone with at least one familiar event. This year, I'm doing everything differently. I'm gonna stand out from all the rest and show that I'm the best Olympics host ever!' flames in her eyes while Tori stared at her awkwardly.

All the while, the heroes waited in a back room, Scorbunny excited beyond compare while Drizzile took a deep breath. After everything he had been through, he was certain he could face a big crowd like this. And of course, Rillaboom just hoped that she would be able to see her parents.

Rolycoly tensed up and uttered, "I hope I do a good job," only for Morgrem to pat him on the shoulder and reply, "Don't sweat it. We're gonna kick so much ass out there."

Vaporeon, all the while, thought hard about how she would enter when she suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. She blinked and turned only for her eyes to widen when she saw who had done it. A big open-mouth smiled formed on her face as she squealed, "Incineroar!"

She embraced the tiger who grinned and patted her on the back, saying, "Hey there. I knew you'd qualify," Ben and Wurmple also standing there while she squeaked with excitement.

"Oh, hey, Ben," she said with a smile before turning to the caterpillar and adding, "Nice to see you, too, Wurmple," Wurmple bowing his head and replying, "A pleasure to see you too. It's been far too long."

"Yeah, that's true," Incineroar replied with a blink, "Hell, I feel lucky Ben and I got to see you at all after graduation," Vaporeon nodding and uttering, "I wish it had been under better circumstances, but yeah."

Just as Vaporeon's friends were about to ask about her new allies, Scorbunny spotted them and raced over to them, saying, "Hey there," before Drizzile and Rillaboom approached them more casually.

Incineroar blinked before a grin formed on his face. He then held out his hand and said, "Hey, it's nice to see you." Drizzile was rather shocked by this, but Rillaboom and Scorbunny easily shook his hand before he gazed down at the chameleon and asked, "You're not butthurt over your loss to me, are you?"

"Oh, no, of course not," Drizzile replied while he rubbed the back of his head, "I'm just a little shocked," the tiger staring for a few seconds. But after a while, he put two and two together, nodded and said, "Oh, don't worry about it. Villains turning to the side of good is a common thing. You may have been evil when we fought, but you're not anymore, right?"

Drizzile stared for a few seconds before a smile formed on his face. Thus he shook the tiger's hand before both formed a friendly grin. The chameleon never would have imagined someone so ruthless in combat could be this nice outside of the ring.

Ben, meanwhile, grinned at Rillaboom and said, "I heard you've gotten much better at strategizing since we fought," the gorilla nodding and replying, "Damn straight. I bet if we faced each other again, I'd beat your ass for sure," both sharing a laugh.

Wurmple felt a touch left out until Vaporeon introduced him. When she mentioned his parents, all three former villains stared in shock. Both Lycanroc and Caterpie were famous, especially Caterpie who had gone from one of Tokyo's worst heroes to surprisingly amazing in combat despite his small stature.

"Speaking of which," Vaporeon enquired, "Where's Rockruff? Did she not qualify?" Wurmple replying, "For some reason, she really wanted to compete in the same tournament I did, figuring it would be better than waiting to see if we would face each other in the Olympics."

The fox stared in stunned silence for a few seconds. She then rose her finger and uttered, "You're telling me you actually beat your sister?" the caterpillar rubbing the back of his head and chuckling, "Yeah, I'm just as surprised as you are."

Scorbunny turned toward Morgrem and Rolycoly and called them both over, thus they approached the group and were soon introduced to Vaporeon's old friends. All three were very happy to meet the duo, though Wurmple and Ben blinked when Grimmsnarl approached from behind along with Samurott.

"Ah, there you are," he said as Morgrem turned to face him, "When Mom called me and said you actually won, I had to see you here to believe it. Congrats, sis," the red goblin smirking and retorting, "Hey, I beat you, didn't I?"

Samurott then cut in and stated, "Hey, name's Samurott. I imagine Grimmsnarl's mentioned me, his super awesome partner in crime fighting, eh?" before Morgrem nodded and replied, "Yeah. He says you're amazing in combat."

The sea lion grinned with pride until she added, "He also said you're hardheaded and full of yourself," his eyelids narrowing as Grimmsnarl laughed nervously.

The conversation was soon interrupted when a loudspeaker came on and a female voice told everyone to line up in areas reserved for their respective countries. After all, they only had a few minutes before they were to walk down the runway.

Scorbunny smiled and said, "Do your best, guys," Rillaboom giving her a thumb up and heading toward the Kenyan side.

All the while, Thwackey had an old-school camera out and said, "How lucky is it that we just happened to have this in the attic?" Obasi saying, "Yeah, with this, we can create memories of this occasion."

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!" Shaymin exclaimed, "It's time for the moment you've all been waiting for!" Tori nodding and adding, "Yes, in only a minute, all of the contestants will come down the runway! As you're all probably aware, we have far more participants than usual! Up until now, we have always had three per country, but this year, we have five! One can only guess how much more exciting this will be with so many!"

The first country to go up was France, but of course many followed close behind. Drizzile had to admit that he was a tad surprised when he wound up going before any of his friends. At the very least, he felt like England would have taken priority.

Regardless, he put on a serious face and walked down the runway with dignity and grace. When he noticed Allie waving at him, he smiled and returned the gesture.

Ben was up next along with the rest of the American fighters, the crowd especially excited to see a human in the Hero Olympics. After all, it had been ages since the last time this happened, so this was a big deal to say the least. And Japan was next with Wurmple feeling nervous but trying his best not to show it. While his family was not there to cheer for him in person, he at least knew they were all watching from home.

Next up were the British representatives. Scorbunny waved to the crowd with both hands and blew them a few kisses while Corviknight marched with the grace and dignity one would expect from a knight. Although he did break that for a few seconds to give the rabbit a supportive smile before she nodded at him and gave him a thumb up.

Next was Thailand, and of course, Vaporeon could not have just looked professional. After all, both of her parents had been known to always put on a big show whenever they entered the ring. As such, she performed a handstand while she walked and flipped upright, and while the other Thai heroes seemed embarrassed by this, she knew Eevee and Popplio had to have appreciated that greatly.

Next up was Poland, Samurott grinning and waving to the crowd. However, his eyes widened when he spotted Yanma among the crowd and waved with an open-mouth smile. He was especially flattered to not only see her wearing a bandana that resembled the Polish Flag around her head but she also held up a picket sign with his face on it.

When Romania came up, she flipped the sign over to reveal Grimmsnarl's face, the green goblin showing a great deal of appreciation. Morgrem noticed this and asked, "Is she your other partner?" Grimmsnarl nodding and replying, "Yeah. Hopefully you'll get to meet her properly during downtime."

Once the two were finished talking, Grimmsnarl lifted Morgrem up onto his shoulders before both waved to the crowd. The audience could not help but find this especially touching and sweet, mostly because no one had ever done that during an opening ceremony before.

"What an incredible display!" Tori exclaimed, "Even though both those heroes will compete against each other, their sibling relationship is clearly a strong one!" before turning to Shaymin who released tears and sniffed, "I'm so glad I gave them community service instead of locking them up forever."

Tori patted her on the back, her eyes wide with shock as she uttered, "Oh my god, your back is so soft." And while she caressed it, Shaymin blushed and uttered, "Please don't do that in public."

Kenya was up soon enough, and while Rillaboom waved to the crowd, she also looked among the bleachers before she spotted her parents. Thwackey held up a sign that said 'Rillaboom rules' while Obasi gripped a megaphone and released his own cheers into it.

The Grecian fighters were up next. Rolycoly wheeled down the runway with a look of confidence while many cheered for him. But while he certainly loved the attention, some of the other representatives of his country intimidated him.

India was up next, Incineroar waving to the crowd with a grin. And more and more countries came up before it ended with Canada. After all, the government always saved the host country for last.

And with all of that out of the way, Shaymin waited for the audience to calm down and stated, "Now that the fighters have been introduced, it's time for the first sporting event!"

While most adults in the crowd were not surprised by this, many teens and kids were confused until the hedgehog explained, "For those unaware, the sporting events to decide our finalists always start immediately after the opening ceremony! We on Hero Planet like to get this part out of the way as soon as possible!"

"Wait, we don't even get to prepare ourselves?" Drizzile uttered only for Scorbunny to beam bright and squeal, "Hell yeah! I can get behind that!"

Most other heroes seemed fine with this as well, and thus Shaymin grinned and directed everyone's attention to a nearby jumbotron. On the screen came the words 'Tug of War' with an image of two muscle-bound heroes pulling on a thick rope.

The majority of the heroes seemed to approve of this, though some looked a tad nervous. Wurmple, for instance, could not help but wonder if he was qualified for a test of strength, especially with his small stature and tiny arms.

Either way, everyone was interested when various parts of the ground opened up to reveal pits. However, many panicked when they noticed the pits were full of spikes. And while they were not particularly big or razor sharp, this was still alarming, Rillaboom barking, "Hey, is that what the loser falls in!?"

Drizzile tried desperately to maintain his confidence while Rolycoly trembled and uttered, "Oh my god, the chairwoman's insane," many others speaking up against this until one hero in particular enquired, "What's the big deal? Isn't this normal for the Hero Olympics?"

Everyone stared and noticed that the one who had spoken up was a cyborg made entirely out of liquid metal. Dark grey hexagonal nuts were attached to his shoulders, the middle of his arms and his feet and there was even a small one embedded into his midsection. A big golden one covered his neck like a collar and half of a small one represented a head. Finally, a small black eye floated within the head's boundaries.

"Well, I hate to say it, but he's right," Wurmple sighed, "Since we're heroes, we can handle stuff like this, so they often add gimmicks like these to make these events extra tough for us."

Now he was the one receiving all the stares until he tensed up and uttered, "Hey, my grandpa used to be chairman. I know this stuff," Vaporeon chuckling, "Oh yeah, I actually forgot about that."

Grimmsnarl shrugged and said, "I agree with the metal guy. It's not like this is any worse than fighting a dangerous villain," Shaymin grinning wide and stating, "Nice to see at least a couple of you get it! But yes, Melmetal is right! The Hero Olympics have always been a true test of the abilities of heroes and it was my goal especially to make this the most brutal one yet! To answer your question, Rillaboom, yes, the half who end up losing will fall into the spikes!"

Scorbunny smirked and replied, "Well, we all knew this profession would be dangerous," Drizzile sighing, "Well, as long as I don't die from falling in."

With that in mind, multiple staff members carried in not ropes but long chains and draped them over the pits. They then signalled each hero to pick a random nearby opponent to face. And soon enough, each one had a choice.

Scorbunny had wound up with a mongoose with yellow fur atop his head named Yungoos. Drizzile was face-to-face with a cross between a horsehair crab and a yeti named Crabominable. Rillaboom, meanwhile, was to face a toucan named Toucannon.

Vaporeon was up against a light purple slug named Sliggoo and Morgrem turned toward a barnacle with two hands for heads named Binacle. However, Rolycoly's fear returned when he noticed his opponent was a large red T-Rex named Tyrantrum.

Grimmsnarl noticed that his opponent was a small pink bird-like creature with a white mask and a curved beak. He stared in stunned silence while she implied a sweet smile with her eyes and said, "Hi, I'm Spritzee. Nice to meet you," waving her right wing at him.

'Oh god, this is way too easy,' Grimmsnarl thought, 'I almost feel like a bully picking on a child,' before smirking and saying, "Nice to meet you, too. Don't be too sad when I beat you."

Spritzee lowered her eyelids and thought, 'Oh, you act high and mighty now, but wait'll you see what I have in store.'

Once the heroes all picked up their respective chains, Shaymin stated, "One last thing. Because this is a competition for heroes, you may use whatever means necessary to make things easier for you. That means if you can attack your opponent from the other side of the pit or do something else to boost your chances, you may."

When Wurmple heard this, he blinked and thought, 'I might actually stand a chance after all,' before turning to face his opponent, specifically Melmetal.

And once the bell was rung, the caterpillar immediately released a string of silk from his mouth and wrapped it around his side of the chain, shouting, "STRINGSHOT GRAPPLING HOOK!"

With the chain secured, he pulled back as hard as he could while Melmetal seemed to put no real effort into his pull at all. But just as it looked like Wurmple would come out on top, his eyes sparkling and tears running down his face, the cyborg yanked back just hard enough to reel the caterpillar inward. However, the crowd was truly shocked when it turned out Melmetal pulled so hard that Wurmple had flown over the pit and landed right beside him.

Wurmple stared in shock as Melmetal rubbed the back of his neck and uttered, "I didn't want you to get too badly hurt."

While Wurmple was disappointed that he had lost already, he could not have felt more grateful right now, thus he bowed his head and said, "Good luck in the second event," the crowd applauding the two.

"Wow, what a nice guy," Allie uttered, Brian nodding and replying, "He's definitely a good sport."

Scorbunny easily overpowered Yungoos, although she could not help but wince at the sight of him falling into the spikes and crying out in agonizing pain. She knew she would have to witness this if she won, but even so, this seemed unnecessarily cruel despite what had already been established. But even so, she was still glad that she won, but she hoped that the mongoose would be okay.

All the while, Grimmsnarl was close to pulling Spritzee into the pit only for the bird to smirk and shout, "FAIRY DUSTER!"

A strange pink dust flew out of the sides of her mask and hit Grimmsnarl in the face. As such, he could not help but close his eyes. Luckily, this quickly backfired when rather than dropping his guard, the green goblin instinctively pulled even harder, thus guaranteeing his victory.

Sure enough, many others managed to overcome their opponents as well. Drizzile struggled at first but then gained the upper hand when he encased his hands in water and morphed it into a pair of big gloves, shouting, "AQUATIC POWER MITTS!"

Allie waved her arms in the air and shouted, "Way to go, Drizzile!" her parents joining in, Wendy saying, "Wow, I didn't know he had abilities like that."

And after Rillaboom pulled Toucannon forward, she gasped and stopped herself from falling in by flapping her wings. But since the gorilla had overpowered her, she still lost.

Morgrem struggled quite a bit. Binacle not only proved to be more physically strong than their skinny body implied, but they also had all four of their hands pulling on it, the red goblin grunting, "Dammit, I thought your heads just happened to look like hands."

The right head implied a smirk with his eyes and retorted in a male voice, "Yeah, people used to make the same mistake about our great grandpa," the left head adding in a female voice, "You never stood a chance!"

However, just as Morgrem was mere millimetres away from the pit, she gasped and realized what she could do. As such, she sharpened her hair and planted it into the ground, shouting, "GRIZZLY SPEAR!" She then used it to vault herself backward, allowing her to pull on the chain so hard that the conjoined siblings lost their grip on it. While they had not fallen victim to the spikes, their flesh had been scraped, and since they let go of the chain, they had also lost.

Despite his wheel possessing incredible speed, Rolycoly struggled just as much as he figured he would against Tyrantrum. But just as it looked like he would fail for sure, he noticed Morgrem had won and put on a serious look. Thus he let out a battle cry and pulled much harder. The dinosaur's eyes went wide when he found himself pulled forward just enough to step on the spikes, crying out in pain and backing up far enough to trip on the side of the pit, falling on his rear end.

Almost everyone had finished by this point. The only heroes still pulling on their chain were Vaporeon and Sliggoo. While the fox seemed to have superior strength, it hardly mattered as the slug did not even move from her spot.

A smirk formed on her face while she thought, 'Try all you like, Vaporeon, but my sticky slime makes it difficult to get me to move. Eventually, you'll run out of energy and I'll be declared the-'

Her train of thought was cut off when Vaporeon bit onto the chain and whipped her tail around to pull with that as well. And sure enough, the added strength was just enough for Sliggoo to slide forward. She shook her head in panic, and just as she was inches away from the spikes, she dropped her part of the chain and breathed heavily.

Vaporeon released the chain as well before Shaymin rang the bell and exclaimed, "And there you have it! We now know which heroes will advance to the second event!" the crowd cheering wildly while Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Drizzile walked over to Vaporeon. They all gave her a congratulatory pat on the back before all four shared a good laugh.

But while the heroes of Edmonton along with most of their friends had made it, there were still two sporting events left before the finals. But while it would be tough, they were all determined to make it.


	20. Chapter 20

Just a little under five hundred contestants remained. A few had relocated to the audience while most either left the arena or headed to the medical bay to receive treatment. While the spikes were too small to possibly be fatal, they were still sharp enough to show an effect.

"Just from one event, I can already tell these will be the most exciting Olympics yet!" Shaymin squealed, "I could just feel my heart pounding during all of that!" Tori uttering, "You're telling me."

Either way, the heroes were all ready to hear what the next event was. Even those who had initially been opposed to the first event at first had to admit that the added risk factor made their victories all the more satisfying. As such, they were now pumped up for whatever else Shaymin had planned.

Shaymin could see this, thus she grinned and squealed, "Time to reveal our second event! This is another one that has never been seen before!" once again pointing at the jumbotron. Everyone looked up to see the words 'Avoid the Falling Objects'.

"What the hell kind of event is that?" one contestant uttered before many others started to question it as well. But sure enough, this would all be made clear soon when Shaymin explained, "It's quite simple. Large objects will be dropped from above!" directing everyone's attention to a squadron of helicopters overhead. Sure enough, each one had a large, heavy, metal object attached to it, including but not limited to boulders, statues and even anvils.

"Oh my god," Drizzile uttered, Wurmple staring at this and thinking, 'Maybe it's a good thing I didn't advance to this one.'

"Your task is to keep dodging these objects," Shaymin explained, "And just so you know, we have over a thousand on standby! Don't ask where we're keeping them," narrowing her eyelids before perking up and adding, "Now, if you think you're strong enough to destroy any of these objects, you can certainly try that method, but I wouldn't recommend it. Once half of you remain, the event will be over."

Even Rillaboom felt nervous about this. After all, while she may have been the most physically strong hero in Edmonton, she was also the slowest.

Even so, she really wanted to compete with her friends, and the others felt the same. Thus she was absolutely certain she would not allow herself to lose. But just as many heroes started to feel like they could pull this off, Shaymin added, "And by the way, you can make things easier by knocking your opponents into an area where an object is about to fall, but be careful. You could end up screwing yourself by trying something like that."

"Oh my god," Allie uttered, "This is supposed to be survivable, right?" Wendy nodding and replying, "Yep, and for heroes, this kind of stuff is. You've seen the sorts of torment your friends have sustained in battle, right?"

The girl nodded in understanding but still hoped that none of her friends would get crushed. Even if they could live through it, she could only imagine the amount of pain they would feel from this.

And soon enough, the first object, specifically a massive anvil, was dropped and thus the event began. As such, those standing where it was headed immediately leapt out of its way right before it landed.

More and more objects started to fall, and while the heroes focused on dodging at first, some of them figured it might be a good idea to take advantage of the privilege Shaymin had given them. With that in mind, a chubby black rat sent a roundhouse toward a blue tortoise with a shell and horn made entirely out of stone.

The tortoise saw this coming and blocked it with her arm. As it so happened, her arms had sharp stone spikes growing out of them, so when the rat's foot made contact, it split open before he cried out in pain and fell on his back. With that in mind, the tortoise dove forward just in time to avoid an incoming statue, the object crushing the rat underneath.

However, her eyes widened when she looked up and noticed a rock descending toward her. As such, she braced herself and prepared for the worst only for the object to crack open down the middle when it made contact with her shell. Both halves of the object fell sideways and crushed two other contestants as the tortoise blinked, not sure how to feel about that.

Drizzile did rather well as he dodged many objects himself. However, he would certainly need to watch himself when a short blue crocodile with red spikes on her head that resembled a Mohawk appeared behind him and leapt at him, shouting, "CROCODILE JAW!"

The chameleon gasped and instinctively sent his tail into her gut, shouting, "CHAMELEON LANCE!" Thus the crocodile cried out in pain and fell on her back, falling victim to an anvil.

Rillaboom, all the while, barely managed to dodge an incoming iron ball before noticing a boulder headed straight for her. She also noticed a dog-like creature with a red nose and large pink veins on various parts of his body rushing in to grapple her. As such, she took a deep breath and lifted her arms up.

The crowd gasped when the boulder landed atop her hands, her eyes closed while she feared the worst. But after a few seconds, she noticed that she had not been crushed and opened her eyes. And when she looked up and saw the boulder perfectly in her hands, her eyes sparkled before she turned toward the one who had tried to attack her.

As it so happened, he was now frozen in fear, and this was all she needed as she shouted, "BOULDER BASH!" leaping into the air and throwing her arms down, crushing him with the boulder.

Vaporeon, Morgrem and Rolycoly had no trouble, though. They were all so quick and agile that this was nothing to them, and the same went for Scorbunny. She easily dodged every incoming rock, anvil, statue and whatever else that came her way. However, when she and Vaporeon leapt away from a projectile each, they both flew into one-another.

"Sorry," Scorbunny said with a grin before Vaporeon chuckled, "Not a problem," both going wide-eyed when they noticed a green dinosaur that resembled a barnacle flying toward them with the petal-like tentacles around her neck spinning while she exclaimed, "BARNACLE BUZZ SAW!"

Scorbunny and Vaporeon both smiled at one-another before leaping away from each other. They then turned around, Scorbunny lighting her foot on fire and delivering a roundhouse to the dinosaur's cheek while Vaporeon formed her ice ball on the tip of her tail and rammed it into the other one. Both yelled, "FIRE AND ICE ROUNDHOUSE!" before blood flew out of the opening where the dinosaur's eyes actually were.

This left her unable to move in time to avoid an incoming block of ice, many staring in stunned silence. Most of them could not help but wonder how they had kept that as big as it was for that long.

Either way, things seemed to go well for the heroes of Edmonton while Grimmsnarl and Samurott watched each other's backs to make sure neither one was taken out. But just as a rock was seconds away from crushing Grimmsnarl, the sea lion pulled out his seamitar and barked, "RAZOR SHELL!" slashing the rock down the middle, the two halves crushing a girl with a golden bell for a head and a teal cat-like being.

Grimmsnarl noticed this, grinned and gave Samurott a thumb up, the sea lion returning the gesture. There was no way either one would lose, not yet.

Corviknight, meanwhile, dealt with a blue frog by soaring into his gut and shouting, "RAVEN JOUST!" This caused the frog to fly backwards just in time for an anvil to fall on him.

However, he then noticed that Melmetal was so far the only hero not to move from his spot. It seemed the large nuts on his fists were more than powerful enough to deal with every object that came toward him. As such, the raven could tell that this cyborg would be a major threat.

'I just need to distract him long enough,' he thought before flying toward him with his beak out, exclaiming, "RAVEN JOUST!"

However, it seemed that Melmetal was more than prepared for this when he leapt away from an incoming object. His nuts then started to spin like gears before he shouted, "DOUBLE IRON CRUSH!" and sent both arms inward when Corviknight was close enough. Sure enough, both nuts rammed into his cheeks and scraped them while the raven cried out in agonizing pain.

After a few seconds, Corviknight coughed up blood, thus the cyborg released him and allowed him to collapse. He then leapt away just in time to avoid an incoming boulder that hit the raven hard in the back, knocking him out for good.

This kept up for a few more minutes while Shaymin held a monitor that showed her exactly how many fighters were left standing. And soon enough, the number had gone all the way down to two hundred and forty four, thus she rang the bell and squealed, "And that is it for the second event! Those who weren't crushed will advance to the third round while those who were shall do as they please!"

Everyone stared at her in confusion, but just as they were about to question why none of the losers were to receive medical treatment, they noticed all of them rise back to their feet as if they had not been flattened at all. Many of them even looked over themselves to see no bruises whatsoever.

"You didn't think I was sadistic enough to hospitalize the competitors myself, did you?" the hedgehog asked with a grin, "Even though these objects are big, I also had them made out of slightly lighter materials. In fact, those boulders and rocks aren't even made out of real stone. They still hurt, but none of that was deadly."

However, this did not mean none of the heroes would receive medical treatment. After all, some were knocked out by other heroes, and the one in the worst condition right now was Corviknight. It seemed Melmetal's attack had been more than enough to leave him battered and bruised.

Allie breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I have to admit, that was kinda scary," her parents nodding in agreement, although deep down, she knew that her friends would come out of that okay.

Vaporeon bit her lower lip while she watched Corviknight get taken away on a stretcher, sighing, "I hope he's okay," Rillaboom patting her on the shoulder and replying, "I'm sure he'll be fine."

It seemed as if she was right when the raven coughed up a bit more blood and breathed heavily. One of the medics carrying him gasped and said, "Sir, you probably shouldn't talk right now," only for the raven to utter, "You're too kind."

Vaporeon ran over to him with a look of concern only for the raven to smile lightly and say, "Worry not, Vaporeon. I shall recover soon. Go and advance to the finals," before narrowing his eyelids and adding, "Though be careful about that Melmetal. He doesn't strike me as a bad fellow, but he has remarkable power."

With all said and done, he closed his eyes and went to sleep, knowing he had just put quite a bit of strain on himself by saying all of that. Vaporeon bit her lower lip and turned to face the cyborg. She had not seen how he had survived the round, but she could at least tell he had something to do with Corviknight's loss.

"Now that we're down to two hundred and forty four heroes, it's time for the event that will determine our finalists!" Shaymin exclaimed, "While I have done things differently so far, there is one tradition even I cannot bring myself to break, and that is the ever popular and always exciting race to the finish!"

Sure enough, the title in question formed on the jumbotron along with an image of various past heroes running. Scorbunny beamed and squealed, "This couldn't be more perfect! No one's better at track than me!"

And she was not exactly blowing smoke, either. As it so happened, Scorbunny used to be on her school's track team and was top of the class.

Even Rolycoly looked much more confidence as he said, "Oh, thank god. If there's one thing I'm always good at, it's speed," Morgrem nodding and replying, "Damn straight. We're gonna cross that finish line first for sure, if you catch my drift," winking as the golem directed his eyes toward his back and knew exactly what she meant.

Vaporeon took a deep breath and said, "Keep in mind this won't be as easy as simply making it to the final round. Just like in every other event up to this point, heroes are allowed to attack their opponents to hinder their performance. I know because I've watched old footage of when Mommy and Daddy competed in this same event."

And sure enough, she was right, and this was confirmed when Shaymin explained, "Just like in the previous event, heroes can rely on any means necessary to make it past the finish line first, and you'd all better take full advantage of this because only the first sixteen will advance to the final event," Drizzile tensing up and uttering, "Sixteen? Oh god, this might be harder than I thought."

Scorbunny patted him on the back and said, "Come on, you got this," the chameleon nodding and replying, "Yeah. I mean, I just avoided being crushed by large objects for five minutes. I can handle this."

With that, Shaymin grinned and stated, "Now, while this stadium is pretty big, I feel like we can go bigger! Instead, I've set up my own course for this!" more helicopters entering the area, each holding part of a racetrack.

It did not take them long to set up all of them, forming a ramp that moved in various different directions. The starting line was located on the eastern side of the stadium and went thirty stories high.

The very top of the track lined up perfectly with the middle of the stadium where it went down in the opposite direction, the finish line located on the west side. And sure enough, most of the heroes immediately figured out exactly what this meant.

"Of course, the racetrack going high above the ground is the least of your worries," Shaymin explained, "In classic Hero Olympics tradition, we have added special gimmicks to make things a little more difficult, so on top of avoiding being knocked back by your opponents, you also have to evade multiple traps."

While quite a few participants were not surprised by this, Rolycoly, Drizzile and even Morgrem were a tad alarmed by this. As if the threat of being sent off the ledge by another hero was not bad enough, they also had this to worry about.

However, the chameleon and red goblin calmed down when Rillaboom folded her arms and said, "That doesn't sound too much different from the last event. This should be interesting," Scorbunny feeling even more pumped now.

And with all said and done, all of the remaining heroes lined up in front of the starting line. Allie watched with intent as did Rillaboom's parents and Dhelmise. And once Shaymin was certain all of the heroes were prepared, she held up her gavel only for Tori to cut in and add, "One last thing, everyone!"

All of the heroes just about lost their footing when they glared at her, the woman laughing nervously only for Shaymin to nod and state, "Oh yeah, she's right. Flying heroes must remain on the path! That means you can't use your wings to rise up to the top before everyone else, got it!?"

Most of the fliers had already expected as much, but there were a few who felt a touch disappointed. Nevertheless, everyone was ready now as Shaymin squealed, "Well, now that that's out of the way, let the final sporting event begin!" ringing the bell.

And with that, everyone took off at incredible speed. And just as she had hinted at, Morgrem wasted no time and leapt on top of Rolycoly. The golem spread his arms out and pointed the forearms upward. And when the red goblin took hold of his hands, both shouted, "GARGOYLE MOTORCYCLE!"

This proved amazingly effective as the two wound up in first place within mere seconds, and of course, this garnered the attention of many heroes who were on their tail. Though they would have to find a way to catch up before truly taking advantage of them, but they were certainly mentally prepared.

Scorbunny also got an early lead, having quickly made her way into seventh. Although she was certain she would be within the top three by the time she reached the end. And while Rillaboom was not quite as fast, she seemed to do alright as well, feeling rather content in fourteenth while Drizzile was surprised to already be in eleventh.

And of course, Vaporeon did rather well too as she was in eighth. Though part of that could easily be attributed to the fact that she was currently down on all fours. Grimmsnarl, however, was just barely in a good enough spot, he and Samurott in sixteenth and fifteenth respectively while the sea lion groaned, "Wow, your sister's doing way better than us."

"Yeah, I noticed," the green goblin replied with a grin, "That's good. I want another chance to face her in front of an audience."

But while the duo had started off strong, they quickly lost the upper hand when a mine suddenly went off under Rolycoly. His and Morgrem's eyes were wide with terror as they flew into the air. But as much as those behind them wanted to take advantage of this, they were more alarmed by the fact that the mine had created a pretty big gap in the racetrack.

"And with that, Rolycoly and Morgrem fall victim to the first of many traps!" Shaymin squealed with a grin on her face, "Let's see how the others manage!"

The heroes closest to the front focused hard and managed to leap over the pit formed by the mine while Rolycoly and Morgrem slowly pushed themselves up. They breathed heavily when suddenly, a fish with colourful scales and large jaws dove toward them with her mouth open wide.

"PSYCHIC FANGS!" she exclaimed while her jaws had a violet glow around them. However, Morgrem and Rolycoly noticed this just in time, thus they spun around before the golem struck the fish's neck with his arm while Morgrem sent her leg into her chest.

This was enough to knock her on her back while both took full advantage of this and propelled themselves forward toward the gap. While quite a few had managed to pass them, they were certain they could catch up with ease. However, that thought quickly came to a close when Melmetal just happened to leap over the pit right behind them, and when he saw them both completely vulnerable, he spread out his arms and rammed them into the back of Morgrem's neck and Rolycoly's backside.

Both cried out in terror when they realized they were still over the gap when they were struck. Luckily, they were not too high up off the ground, but nevertheless, they still fell onto the ground below as Shaymin exclaimed, "And with that, Morgrem and Rolycoly have both been knocked out of the race!"

Grimmsnarl's eyes widened as he spat, "WHAT!?" Samurott turning and noticing a screen that showed a replay of their defeat. Thus he frowned and growled, "Let's teach that slime thing a lesson."

"I'd rather get my revenge in the ring," the green goblin grunted, "Still, though, that is certainly tempting," both carrying on.

Of course, Scorbunny was disappointed to hear this, thus she frowned and thought, 'Alright, I'll make sure to make it in the top three for both of you!" picking up the pace while her feet caught flame. And of course, the others felt the same and also picked up the pace.

"Wow, not even three minutes in and the same number of heroes have already been knocked out of the race," Shaymin said with a squeal, "That's a new record," Tori blinking and saying, "Now that you mention it, it did take longer for that to happen in the past."

The heroes carried on while a few who were closer to the back had trouble leaping over the pit despite it being rather small. But of course, those closer to the front knew they would have to watch themselves now. After all, who knew what other sorts of traps covered this racetrack? If that mine was only the beginning, just how much worse could it get?


	21. Chapter 21

Note: In case you didn't catch onto it, yes, Rapidight is Galarian Rapidash.

While things had started off promising for the heroes of Edmonton, Morgrem and Rolycoly had already been knocked out of the race. But while Scorbunny did her best to stay within the top three, her eyes widened when she noticed something off with the upcoming part of the track. She thought she had hallucinated at first, but after a few seconds, she could see it plain as day.

This particular portion was moving backwards like a conveyer belt. However, the rabbit's initial shock left her when she smirked and thought, 'Do they really think that's gonna slow me down?'

She then bounced forward a couple of times before leaping high into the air and landing in the middle of this particular portion while also making her way into first place. She then sped along the track at rapid speed, easily making it to the end.

But once she reached the end, she started to pant lightly while she thought, 'What's going on?' She then looked down at her feet while her mind added, 'I've never felt exhausted after running before.'

And when she turned around, sure enough, the others who had entered also looked rather winded, Shaymin exclaiming, "As you can see, folks, some of our heroes have already entered the treadmill of doom! This is specially designed to make anyone who runs really quickly across it super exhausted, if even for a couple short minutes! Let's see if anyone can figure out a way to work around this!"

Vaporeon was among the heroes who were struggling while thinking, 'I don't get it! It's too fast for me to slow down! What could possibly be the secret?'

It was then that she and a few other heroes noticed Melmetal making his way across it at a rather steady pace. And when they saw him able to keep up with it, it was then that they realized what was going on. Somehow, Shaymin had designed the treadmill to move at a speed based off of whoever was on it. As such, Vaporeon lowered her speed as sure enough, not only was she able to move ahead more quickly but now she no longer had to exhaust herself.

No one completely understood why specifically it worked like this, but whatever the case, they all took full advantage of this now, although this did allow many in thirtieth to twentieth place to advance forward. And this ultimately took a toll on Scorbunny since she could barely run at a steady pace right now, thus many, including Melmetal had managed to pass her as she went from first all the way down to thirteenth.

Though it was also because of this that Vaporeon managed to catch up with her, a grin on her face as she asked, "Want some help?" the rabbit biting her lower lip and nodding her head.

"This is a move Mommy taught me," Vaporeon said, making sure the path ahead was straight enough. She then took hold of Scorbunny's hand, pointed her ear fins forward and shouted, "FLYING FOX PROPELLER!" sending them backward and creating a big gust of wind that allowed her to fly past three heroes, landing her and the rabbit into tenth and eleventh respectively.

Drizzile just happened to have been behind them when he noticed this and thought, 'Looks like they're sure to make it. Better pick up the pace if I want to join them.' But while he continued forward, he could not help but find it surprising that not one had tried to attack him yet. He wondered if maybe they still underestimated him and did not consider him a high priority.

Rillaboom, all the while, had managed to maintain a decent place thanks to her already steady speed. However, she was starting to lose quite a bit of momentum. Despite nothing having really slowed her down yet, many had passed her quite easily, and thus she frowned and realized she would need to start eliminating the competition.

As such, she smirked at the sight of a blue octopus in front of her. She leapt toward him from behind and wrapped her legs around his shoulders. His eyes widened as she rolled forward like a boulder, propelling herself off of him and leaving him in the dust. This allowed her to soar past two other heroes while the octopus was too dizzy to continue, thus he was unable to respond when multiple other contestants stomped on him while running ahead.

Grimmsnarl and Samurott, all the while, had managed to make their way into seventh. They had taken a page out of Morgrem and Rolycoly's book by having the green goblin use Samurott like a surf board while he used his flippers to slide forward.

"I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner," Grimmsnarl said with a grin before Samurott laughed, "The funny thing, I didn't even know I could do this! I'm awesome!"

But just as it looked like they would make it for sure, a white unicorn with a light purple and blue mane charged toward them from behind on all fours. Despite Samurott's incredible speed, she had somehow managed to gain on them while a stream of pink and violet light swirled around her horn.

"MYSTICAL JAB!" she shouted before she leapt forward and planted her horn into Grimmsnarl's back. His eyes widened while he coughed up blood, the unicorn flipping forward and planting his belly into the canvas.

Samurott gasped and screeched to a halt while the unicorn removed her horn from the green goblin and sped off into the distance. Right now, the sea lion did not even care about the race, thus he ran over to his ally and uttered, "Grimmsnarl, are you okay?"

Grimmsnarl coughed up a bit more blood and grinned lightly, uttering, "Don't worry about me. Just go and make it to the finals for me," Samurott nodding and shouting, "I'll make the top sixteen for-"

However, his eyes and mouth widened and blood escaped from him when a sheep with a perfectly round coat of wool rolled into him and shouted, "COTTON BOULDER!" continuing on her way while both the sea lion and his ally were officially eliminated.

During this time, Ben had managed to make his way into sixth with a grin on his face, thinking, 'Just watch me, Ma. I'll make you proud,' spotting Incineroar next to him and giving him a light wave. The tiger grinned and flashed him a thumb up only for a brown donkey to race behind them and leap over both of them. He then lifted up his legs and shouted, "DONKEY KICK!" only for Ben and Incineroar to easily grab the incoming hooves.

The donkey tensed up with nervous sweat while the boy and tiger both smirked at each other. They then lifted him up and slammed his chin hard into the pavement. They proceeded to leap over him and carry on before Ben said, "Great job, partner," Incineroar replying, "Right back at ya, pal!"

However, the moment was interrupted when a ladybug with a large shell but a very skinny body flew toward Ben and exclaimed, "HORNET KICK!" sending his feet, which were just as sharp as stingers, into both of his shoulders.

This caused the human boy to cough up blood and fall flat on his face, the ladybug carrying on just in time to avoid being grabbed by an enraged Incineroar. The tiger then looked down at his partner only for him to bark, "Go, now, before you lose your chance!"

Incineroar nodded and grunted, "I'll win this for both of us!" and unlike Samurott, he had a chance to back up his words as he sprinted off into the distance.

Now many of the heroes had started to get very close to the top. A smirk formed on Shaymin's face before Tori turned to her and groaned, "Okay, what do you have planned now?"

Her question was almost immediately answered when the hero currently in first had a small metal drill rise up from a hole in the pavement and pierce her leg. She cried out in pain and tried her best to ignore it only to walk into another one. Unlike the ones in the tug of war pits, these ones were big and razor sharp.

Shaymin clapped her hands and squealed, "I can't believe how well my obstacles have been working so far!" Tori staring at her and uttering, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Scorbunny and Vaporeon both spotted this while they closed in as the rabbit grinned and said, "This'll be easy for me."

Vaporeon nodded and said, "I think I can make things better for us," thus she leapt onto the rabbit's back and wrapped her tail around her legs, forming a spring. Scorbunny nodded with a big smile before both bounced upright like a pogo stick and shouted, "BUNNY FOX TRAMPOLINE!"

And sure enough, with both combined, they were able to leap over every single hole and ultimately land in first, Melmetal not too far behind. But when Drizzile and Rillaboom, who had only just caught up with him, noticed this, the gorilla turned to the chameleon and asked, "Do you feel ready for this?"

Drizzile lowered his eyelids and squinted at the spike holes, nodding and saying, "Yeah, I think I can manage this. You, on the other hand, may need some help."

The gorilla was about to retort, but after a few seconds, she nodded and said, "Yeah, you may be right."

With that in mind, the chameleon formed water around his hands and ran right next to Rillaboom. He then lathered her feet and ankles, explaining, "Now that you're slippery, you should be able to slide around the holes with ease. Try it."

Rillaboom smiled and slid forward one foot at a time as if she had roller blades on right now. Her eyes sparkled as she not only managed to avoid the spikes but even moved at a much faster speed, Drizzile doing the same for himself. Now he could not help but wonder why he had not done that from the start. Clearly it was the better option.

Because of this, both of them managed to bypass Melmetal and catch up with Vaporeon and Scorbunny, the rabbit's eyes sparkling while she squealed, "Oh my god, we're all in first! It's like fate itself is on our side!"

Vaporeon, on the other hand, narrowed her eyelids and grunted, "Don't celebrate just yet. We're almost at the halfway point. Something Mommy told me is that this is when things get their hardest."

And sure enough, it seemed so when another mine went off. All four friends managed to leap over it just in time but could not help but look behind them at the gap that formed.

"Holy shit, Shaymin's psychotic," Drizzile uttered before Vaporeon replied, "This event has always been dangerous, but it's never been this bad."

Either way, they realized they would need to hurry, thus they sprinted forward, now heading down toward the ground below with many other heroes close behind. All the while, Shaymin pouted and groaned, "Darn, no one got hit that time," Tori staring at her in disgust.

While the group carried on, quite a few heroes wanted a go at them. However, after having seen enough of his skills, most of them wanted to take down Melmetal first, especially since he was still in fifth despite not being among the fastest. As such, three of them, a dark blue cat, a fuzzy blue bat and a green wolf with a head shaped like a long bicycle helmet lunged at him.

The cat formed a purple aura around her paws while the bat opened up his mouth to reveal a single fang. The wolf also bore his own fangs while electric sparks flew out of them. However, Melmetal saw this coming and turned around, spun the nuts on his arms like gears and swung them into his attackers' faces, shouting, "HARD BUZZ SAW!"

This caused all three to cough up blood as they flew backward into the gap the mine had created. They all plummeted toward the ground only to fall into a net located in the center between both sides of the racetrack. They breathed a sigh of relief while Tori blinked and uttered, "How did I not notice that was there before?"

She then turned to Shaymin and uttered, "Maybe you're not as insane as I thought," the hedgehog retorting, "You thought I was insane?"

Either way, it seemed like smooth sailing now. But even so, Drizzile and Vaporeon were both on high alert for any more upcoming traps. And sure enough, it seemed as if Shaymin had one more. Once they were halfway toward the bottom, their eyes widened when another mine went off. As if that was not enough, this one was even worse than the others and created a much bigger explosion, one that was far too big for them to avoid.

As such, all four flew all the way up three levels, thus they had gone from the top four down to twentieth just like that. To make matters worse, they all felt extremely weak from this, thus eight more heroes passed them while they struggled to rise back to their feet.

Allie clasped her hands over her mouth and cried, "NO!" Rillaboom's parents glaring at Shaymin with murderous intent. The other traps had been ridiculous, but that one mine felt more overboard than everything else.

Morgrem and Rolycoly watched this in horror as the red goblin pulled down on her ears and whimpered, "Oh my god! They were so close!" Rolycoly uttering, "Well, it's not over yet. They might still be able to turn this around. They usually do."

Scorbunny fumed and spat, "ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT!" as she sprinted off ahead only to screech to a halt when she noticed the others not even moving thus allowing more and more heroes to pass them.

"Hey, guys, come on!" she groaned, "We gotta get back into the top sixteen!" only for Rillaboom to groan, "I don't think that's possible at this point. We're too close to the bottom and, well, look at how many heroes passed us."

Vaporeon let out a sigh and whimpered, "Maybe if someone else had activated that mine instead, we'd still have a chance."

Scorbunny stared at them all in disbelief only to start doubting their chances herself. But just as it seemed like all four would give up for sure, Drizzile frowned and retorted, "Okay, what the hell is this!?" the others staring at him, "Where is this defeatist attitude coming from!? These are the kinds of thoughts I used to have, not you guys! Come on, we've faced worse than this! Are we really gonna let this stop us!?"

The three stopped and thought deeply about this. On one hand, this conversation alone had bumped them down to below fiftieth place, and it was like Rillaboom said. The race was almost over. It would not have been a surprise if the top sixteen were decided within the next five minutes.

But even so, they had also fought the six most powerful villains they had ever encountered not too long ago and all of them came out on top. Compared to that, an explosion from a land mine felt like a minor inconvenience. With that in mind, Drizzile smiled and formed water on his hands. He then lathered everyone's feet and said, "Alright, let's do this," before he raised his right foot and applied as much pressure as he could.

The others stared as he sped forward at remarkable speed, thus all three followed his example. Even Scorbunny could not have seen herself running this quickly. And sure enough, within half a minute, they had gone from nearing sixtieth to the top forty. But even with that in mind, they still had a lot of ground to cover and little time to do it.

This was made especially apparent when the crowd could see three heroes approaching the finish line. After a little more than ten seconds, Melmetal was the first to cross as he held his arms in the air and implied a smile with his eye. Despite all the power and intelligence he had displayed earlier, the crowd was still shocked that someone with such average speed had managed to pull this off.

Following close behind were the ladybug and the unicorn. Both waved happily to the crowd while Incineroar crossed in forth. He then raised his arms in the air and let out a loud battle cry, his friends glad to see that he had at least made it to the finals.

"And already, we've got our first four finalists!" Shaymin exclaimed, "In first, we have Melmetal with Orbeetle in second and Rapidight in third! And following close behind in forth place is Incineroar! Oh, and Monferno has just placed fifth!"

As soon as she said this, many noticed an orange monkey with blue and red markings around her eyes. She grinned with pride and cupped her hands over her head before shaking them in a celebratory fashion.

However, right now, Allie could barely focus on this. She was more fixated on the screen that showed her friends. And luckily, it seemed that Drizzile's water skate technique had worked wonders as they were already in the top thirties.

"Drizzile, you're amazing!" Scorbunny squealed, "I always knew this ability was great, but not this great!" the chameleon uttering, "In all fairness, I didn't know I could do this either."

Unfortunately, some of the heroes ahead of them had started to notice this. As such, four of them, specifically a light blue fox with nine tails, a grey cat with a coin on his head, a rock with hair-like ridges coming out of his head and a pink hippo all stopped in their tracks and turned to face the quartet.

The fox formed a cold wind on the end of each of her tails and leapt toward Scorbunny with the intent of grabbing her. However, the rabbit easily saw this coming, leapt into the air with her foot on fire and shouted, "BUNNY BLAZE KICK JUNIOR!" ramming the foot into her skull.

This caused the fox to cough up blood and fall on her back while Drizzile noticed the cat lunge at him with his claws at the ready. Sure enough, the chameleon was more than prepared for this, thus he pushed himself forward and knelt down, allowing the cat to fly over him. He then rose up just in time to latch onto the cat's sides and lean backward, planting the back of his head into the pavement and knocking him out cold.

The rock, meanwhile, cupped his hands together to form a big fist and aimed them toward Rillaboom's skull. However, the gorilla was more than ready, thus she formed her barrel bracelets along with a pair of hammerheads around her hands. She then shouted, "WOOD HAMMER!" and swung her fists upward. This was enough to force the rock's hands up and leave him wide open for a hard punch to the face.

The hippo, however, was unable to even attempt a move before Vaporeon leapt vertically toward him and formed her ice ball, shouting, "BOUNCING ICE BALL!"

And sure enough, when he took the blow to his skull, his eyes swirled and he passed out just like the others. All four friends grinned at one-another and carried on, making their way into the top twenties.

However, they would certainly need to pick up the pace. Shortly after this, the sheep who had eliminated Samurott placed sixth followed by Magnezone in seventh. And it was not long until a tall pale alien with a long pink and white gown, arms that looked like ribbons and a sky blue witch's hat that bent backwards all the way down to her ankles made her way into eighth.

"And Wooloo, Magnezone and Hatterene have crossed the finish line!" Shaymin exclaimed while Allie bit her lower lip, Brian uttering, "Those four had better hurry. They're running out of time."

And their chances looked even more slim when what looked like a mishmash of ancient letters with eyes placed ninth, a white and brown anaconda making tenth place. Many members of the crowd cheered, but Wendy gritted her teeth and growled, "Damn that Shaymin, planting a goddamn bomb there of all places!"

Thwackey and Obasi both watched the screen showing the quartet as the monkey thought, 'Come on, Rillaboom! You can make it! I know you can!'

Luckily, it seemed as if they might do so after all as they were now in the top twenties. Even so, they had to pass by four more heroes if they were all to guarantee a spot in the finals. However, they would certainly need to go faster as the tortoise who had stabbed the black rat earlier and a green dragon with wings, a helmet and what appeared to be a large speedo made entirely out of the outside of a massive apple placed eleventh and twelfth respectively.

To make matters worse, it looked as if four more heroes were just about to cross. But just as they were moments away, Allie tensing up and Shaymin readying her mallet to ring the bell, Scorbunny, Drizzile, Rillaboom and Vaporeon all sped by them just in time to claim the final four spots.

The quartet behind them stared in stunned silence and stopped in their tracks. They breathed heavily while Shaymin rang the bell and squealed, "And in a stunning turn of events, the four who everyone thought couldn't possibly make it back to the front have just barely managed to qualify for the final event! And with that, the race has come to a close!"

The crowd cheered wildly while Vaporeon and the others panted heavily. They could not believe it. It was just like when the fox's mother competed all those years ago. She, too, had just barely managed to qualify, and she had also needed the help of another to make sure that happened.

Either way, she smiled and squealed, "Guys, we're all in the finals!" holding Scorbunny and Drizzile for a tight embrace before signalling Rillaboom to join them. Thus the gorilla nodded and joined into the group hug.

"WAY TO GO, GUYS!" Allie screamed with her arms in the air, "I knew you could do it!" Brian and Wendy breathing a simultaneous sigh of relief while Thwackey and Obasi both cheered for Rillaboom.

Morgrem and Rolycoly both approached the four before the red goblin said, "Good job, guys. We may not have made it, but it's awesome you managed to pull it off," the golem adding, "Not that there was ever any doubt, of course," rubbing his fingers together.

Sure enough, Grimmsnarl also congratulated them while Incineroar grinned at Vaporeon and gave her a thumb up. The fox nodded with a smile and returned the gesture. She hoped to face him at some point, so this was perfect.

Either way, even though the Olympics were not quite over, the quartet had a lot to celebrate. But could any of them truly become the world champion? Only time would tell.


	22. Chapter 22

With the first part of the Olympics out of the way, Brian and Wendy took the heroes out for a nice fancy dinner. While Vaporeon sat around the table in her nicest dress, she uttered, "You know we can pay for our own food, right? You really don't need to spend money on all of us."

"Nonsense," Brian replied, "You all worked hard today and earned this," Drizzile grinning and replying, "You're too kind."

"Yeah, but he's right," Allie said with a sweet smile, "It was really close, but you all pulled through. Granted, I wouldn't have been too upset if you lost, but I'm really glad I get to see you partake in the fighting tournament."

"Fighting tournament?" Rillaboom remarked before Vaporeon explained, "Oh yeah, that's right. The final event of the Hero Olympics is a tournament between all sixteen finalists. The one to make it to the final round and win becomes world champion."

Scorbunny nodded and replied, "That makes sense. I'm kinda surprised I didn't know that considering how big a deal this is," Rillaboom and Drizzile equally embarrassed.

Morgrem all the while chewed on a dinner roll and said, "Whatever the case, I wouldn't be surprised if all four of you made it to the semis," Rolycoly nodding and adding, "Yeah, wouldn't that be cool if all of you faced each other?"

"Yeah, it would," Vaporeon replied with a light smile, "But even so, there's no real guarantee. We'll just have to do the best we can."

"I have to admit, though, I find it kinda weird we have to go back to the stadium tomorrow just to learn the order that we'll have to fight in," Scorbunny stated only for Vaporeon to explain, "According to Mommy, everything in the Olympics is a huge event. Even just simply deciding who will fight who is a much bigger deal than just randomly drawing names out of a hat."

Drizzile blinked as Brian nodded and said, "She's right. Why, I remember when Wendy and I attended this for the first time. I believe it was the time your parents competed, Vaporeon," Wendy adding, "They used a giant pinball machine to decide the order. I wonder what they'll use this year."

"Wow," Scorbunny uttered while her eyes sparkled, "A pinball machine. That is so cool." Now she felt much more excited than she did before, Morgrem and Rolycoly intrigued as well.

Once they received their food, they greatly enjoyed their meal, though right now, they could not help but wonder who they would face. Perhaps they would face each other in the first round. The odds of that were not exactly high, but it was possible.

Either way, once dinner was finished and Allie's parents paid, they were all brought back to their houses with their excitement at its peak. Even though they would not have to fight tomorrow, they still hoped they could sleep with everything coming up.

When Morgrem and Rolycoly were dropped off at their own house, they entered to see Dhelmise already there along with Grimmsnarl. The green goblin grinned and asked, "So, how was dinner?"

"It was great," Rolycoly replied before Morgrem took a seat on the couch and said, "You guys really should have come along."

"I wanted to, but Mom insisted we not ruin your bonding time," Grimmsnarl replied as the blue spirit shrugged and said, "Besides, there were already so many of you. I didn't want to make it seem too crowded."

"It really wouldn't have been that bad," Morgrem replied, "Besides, I'm sure Allie's folks would have loved to meet you, Mom," Dhelmise chuckling, "Alright, I'll consider coming along next time."

She then walked over to Morgrem's fridge and added, "Although not coming along allowed me to surprise you all with this," taking out a chocolate cake with vanilla icing that said 'At least you tried' on top. And while most would not have been quite as flattered by this, both goblins and Rolycoly appreciated the gesture regardless.

Rillaboom, meanwhile, had not been dropped off at Vaporeon's house. Instead, she decided to spend the night with her parents in their hotel room. And since she was one of Edmonton's heroes, the owner was happy to let her stay for free.

And she had a nice rest and chat with her folks while they enjoyed a nice banana flambe that Thwackey made. The only downside was that they had only been permitted a few days of vacation time and thus they would only be able to stay long enough to see Rillaboom's first couple of matches before they had to return to Kenya, assuming she made it to round two. And of course the gorilla would take full advantage of this while also making sure to train for the first round.

Vaporeon, Scorbunny and Drizzile, on the other hand, called up their parents after they arrived home. Eevee and Popplio could not have been more proud of their daughter, both of them wishing her the best. And of course Cinderace was not the least bit surprised that Scorbunny had made it this far, Inteleon giving Drizzile as much encouragement as she could without coming off as too motherly.

The rest of the evening passed by and once noon came around on the following day, everyone was once again gathered at Commonwealth Stadium. Although there was one major difference. All sixteen heroes had been directed elsewhere upon their arrival. Of course, everyone could not help but wonder where they had been taken.

When the citizens and various other heroes no longer competing took their seats, they were all curious about a large object covered by a white cloth located behind Shaymin and Tori. And it would not be long until they got an explanation when Shaymin exclaimed, "Welcome, one and all, back to Commonwealth Stadium! Today's a big day! While we're not exactly starting the first round of the Olympic finals, we are doing something that's almost as exciting! Today's the day we all find out the order in which our finalists will face each other three days from now!"

Tori nodded and added, "I assume many of you are wondering what we have covered up! Well, long time viewers are probably more than aware of the fact that we can't just pick names! No, even the match-ups are a huge event for us!"

She then pointed up into the air to signal a nearby helicopter pilot to remove the cloth. Everyone stared in awe at the sight of a giant slot machine with sixteen transparent slots next to each other. Allie stared at this as she noticed the image of a hero concealed within each one.

After a while, Wendy blinked and uttered, "Wait a minute, are the heroes actually inside of it?" the others seeing what she meant when they noticed nervous sweat pouring down Drizzile's face.

And sure enough, many people were curious about this as Shaymin nodded and explained, "As you can see, our finalists are actually inside the slots right now, hence why we made them transparent. Unlike normal slots, these ones will turn horizontally thus moving the heroes from one slot to the next. This will go on until they stop spinning, and by the time it's finished, the order will be determined based off of which hero winds up inside of which slot."

"Allow me to explain further," Tori added, "It's about as straight forward as it looks. Whoever lands in the far left hand slot will face the hero who lands in the one next to it in the first match. This will continue in that order until we reach the last two heroes in the far right hand slots."

And with that, Shaymin could no longer contain herself. As such, she leapt from her seat, the audience staring in shock when she suddenly changed form. She had gone from a hedgehog to what looked like a reindeer with a green Mohawk and her flower pedal taking on the role of a scarf as opposed to a hairpin. But the most noteworthy change was that her ears had elongated and now looked more like antlers. What was especially odd about this was that they now allowed her to fly.

Soon enough, she reached the lever and took hold of it, shouting, "LET THE SLOTS ROLL!" pulling it down, thus the slots started to spin. While a few heroes braced themselves for an uncomfortable experience, they were surprised by how smooth it was. Strangely enough, they were able to move from slot to slot without feeling any pain or dizziness.

Shaymin returned to her seat, reverted to normal and took a deep breath before Tori stared at her. She then blinked and uttered, "What the hell is that?" the hedgehog replying, "Oh, that's my sky form. It gives me wings!" forming her ears again and flapping them up and down while the human woman continued to stare.

After a while, the far left slot came to a halt. As it so happened, the first one chosen was the ladybug, Orbeetle. And it was not long until his opponent, Incineroar, was revealed. The tiger folded his arms with a smirk, glad that he had a chance to avenge Ben's loss.

Drizzile was the next to stop as he breathed a sigh of relief and thought, 'That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be,' Allie glad to know she would see him fight soon. When the slot next to him stopped, he turned and noticed he would fight the white and brown anaconda, Sandaconda.

Next up were the odd mix of ancient letters, Unown and the orange monkey, Monferno. Magnezone wound up in the next slot followed by the tortoise, Drednaw. And of course, all of them were dead serious about this as they turned to face one-another.

Scorbunny landed in the first slot to the right, pumped up to see who she would face next. Since none of her other friends had landed yet, she figured perhaps it would be one of them, but in the end, she wound up with the alien, Hatterene, who turned to her and bowed her head. The rabbit beamed and returned the gesture, glad that her first opponent seemed like a good sport.

The apple dragon, Flapple, was next and it was soon revealed that she would fight the unicorn, Rapidight. And after that, Wooloo was revealed to be up against Rillaboom, the gorilla folding her arms with a smirk while the sheep turned to face her with a neutral look.

This only left two more for the final slots, Melmetal and Vaporeon. The fox turned to face her opponent and sported a serious look. After all, Corviknight had warned her about his power. She needed to be careful around him, even though he seemed like a nice enough guy.

Whatever the case, the crowd cheered when they saw the match-ups, Allie saying, "I just know they'll all advance to the second round," Brian replying, "I don't doubt that for a second."

"Show that sheep who rules the roost!" Obasi exclaimed with a big grin before Thwackey shouted, "Give her Hell, sweetie!"

Morgrem, all the while, frowned and grunted, "I can't wait to see Vaporeon kick that metal thing's ass," Rolycoly nodding and hoping she could pull it off. Just from that one hit, he could tell Melmetal was not someone they could underestimate.

"Now, remember, folks," Shaymin stated, "The first round will take place in just three days! Everyone who wishes to see the first match must come to this location if they wish to see the first match up close!"

She then brought up a map of Edmonton and pointed to West Edmonton Mall. Morgrem and Rolycoly stared and their eyes sparkled. Even if it was to watch a match, they were beyond happy to have a reason to return there.

With all said and done, every citizen of Edmonton was ready to return home while the foreigners were headed to their hotel rooms. Either way, the excitement could not have been higher.

For the next three days, everyone was hard at work. Rillaboom trained with Thwackey as she felt like this would make for a good bonding experience while Scorbunny and Vaporeon hit the gym. Drizzile, all the while, went with Allie to a secluded area where he could practice his speed and skills without any interruptions.

However, the one currently working the hardest was Melmetal who had gone to a construction site to use various discarded materials as weights and practice dummies. All the while, he had a serious look in his eye. Even though he knew his fight would be against a fellow hero, he was just as determined as everyone else to win.

Although somewhere in the middle of his training, he started to spin the hexagonal nut on his right hand and rammed it into a girder, breaking the material open thus causing its upper half to fall hard against the ground. He took a deep breath and thought, 'Yeah, I'm ready for this. Vaporeon, you'd better watch yourself.'

Once all three days passed, many were assembled inside of West Edmonton Mall. Allie and the others had been dropped off by Brian and Wendy. For some strange reason, they had assured the group that they were content watching the tournament at home. Allie had a feeling this was their way of showing that they trusted her to be at a live event on her own, and as much as she wanted to tell them this was unnecessary, a part of her also wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.

Grimmsnarl had also returned to Romania as he figured it might be a good idea to make sure nothing went wrong there, Samurott joining him. And seeing as her friends were no longer in the competition, Yanma heavily considered going with them. However, in the end, she wanted to see the tournament in person, and thankfully, the others did not feel the need to object to any of this.

Luckily, those who went to the southern parking lot, or more specifically the transit station, did not need to walk far as the location of the first match was just a few feet from the door. It was mainly in a big area in the middle of the first floor called the Mayfield Toyota Ice Palace, named after the fact that people generally went there for ice skating.

Though on some days, there would be no ice around the area and something else would be set up instead. Luckily, this was one of those days as there were bleachers set up along with a ring right in the center of the area. Though since there were no change rooms or anything along those lines, Incineroar and Orbeetle had gone to the stores closest to their sides to prepare their entrances, the owners only allowing this because Shaymin had paid them a handsome sum to do so.

Allie sat with her friends near the front, Drizzile uttering, "Wow, I just realized something. This is my first time actually watching a match instead of partaking in one."

Vaporeon blinked and said, "Yeah, not counting old footage, this is my first time too," Scorbunny and Rillaboom tapping their chins before nodding in understanding.

"Either way, this is so cool!" Allie squealed, "I don't even know the two competing and I'm still looking forward to this!" turning to Vaporeon and adding, "Though I will certainly cheer for Incineroar. You two are friends, right?"

The fox nodded and replied, "Yeah, though I'm surprised you haven't seen him in action. He was the one who beat D-" her eyes wide as she slowly turned to face the chameleon. She then grinned nervously and uttered, "Sorry about that."

Drizzile let out a sigh and said, "Well, to be honest, I wanna see him win too. At the very least, it'll give us a chance at a rematch. I wanna see if I can actually beat him this time."

"It's a shame Ben couldn't have advanced as well," Rillaboom sighed, "You and Scorbunny actually have a chance to face the heroes who bested you. I don't," her eyes wide with shock when she heard a boy with a southern accent reply, "Yeah, that was bullshit right there. I can't wait to see him take that ladybug bastard down a couple of pegs."

The gorilla turned to see Ben right behind her as he grinned and said, "Howdy." A smile crossed Rillaboom's face before she said, "Hey, looks like we get to watch this together."

At that moment, Thwackey and Obasi just happened to arrive with three to-go boxes from a Thai stand at the food court. Rillaboom had specifically saved two seats for them, thus they sat down before the monkey handed her daughter one box, saying, "I got you the spicy shrimp Pad Thai like you wanted, though they were out of the fried bananas. I really wanted to try one of those, too."

Of course, Wurmple sat among the crowd with his phone out to confirm that Rockruff would tune in for the match. She was grateful he called since she had somehow forgotten about it. Either way, both looked forward to seeing their friend come out on top.

Morgrem and Rolycoly, meanwhile, both grinned as the red goblin said, "I just know that cat's gonna win. After the beating he gave us, how can he not?" Rolycoly nodding and uttering, "Seriously, that guy's terrifying."

"You fought him before?" Vaporeon enquired, Morgrem nodding and saying, "Yep. He beat me in ten seconds flat."

After ten more minutes, Shaymin and Tori took their seats behind a nearby desk before the hedgehog exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, old bags and old hags-" Tori shaking her head and making a neck-slitting motion while quite a few elderly citizens narrowed their eyelids.

Shaymin quickly noticed this and blinked before clearing her throat and uttering, "Forget I said that last one," before continuing, "We are all gathered here to today to see the first two matches of the Hero Olympics!"

Some people were confused by this until she explained, "That's right. Only the first two matches will take place in this location. Afterwards, we will all have an hour to move to another one for the next couple of matches and we will keep this up until the final match."

"Oh, that's cool," Scorbunny said before she turned to Drizzile and added, "That means we'll get to see your match here, too," the chameleon nodding and replying, "You know, I hadn't even thought about that."

It was at this moment that Rillaboom noticed that on the other side of the bleachers, the people from India and those from Norway were separated by a barricade. She blinked and asked, "Hey, what's with that?" Wendy explaining, "That's to make sure the fans of Incineroar and the fans of that ladybug don't start a brawl with each other. Trust me, that really is necessary for any sporting event."

Once the audience had calmed down for good, Shaymin turned to Tori who nodded and pointed toward the left hand side, exclaiming, "In the red corner, hailing from Norway is a strong bug with a large shell! He has already proven himself quite the threat and comes to us today to show us more of his strength! Give it up for Orbeetle!"

The Norwegian fans cheered and applauded while Orbeetle flew toward the ring and performed a three hundred and sixty degree flip in the air. He then landed firmly against his feet and folded his arms.

He truly was a scary specimen. Just like Tori said, his shell was four times the size of his upper body and was located above his shoulders. His midsection was very thin and his arms were skinny as twigs, though his hands were slightly bigger and resembled long gloves. His ankles were big and pointy and his feet looked like yellow stingers. His eyeballs were light blue with slightly darker rings and dots to represent the eyes themselves and his eyebrows were long and looked more like yellow clothespins.

"And in the blue corner," Shaymin exclaimed, "coming to us from India is a powerful feline who helped save Edmonton a few months ago! He is just as strong and fearsome as he looks! Give a round of applause for Incineroar!"

The Indian fans went wild when Incineroar performed a somersault toward the ring. He then propelled himself into the air, flipped over and landed perfectly on his feet with his arms spread out and a grin on his face.

Vaporeon smiled wide and clapped, squealing, "Alright! Looking good, Incineroar!" the tiger grinning at her and giving her a thumb up. He then turned to Drizzile who gave him the same gesture. And while he did not show it, deep down, Incineroar was grateful to receive support from someone he had once bested in combat.

He and Orbeetle stared each other down and struck a fighting pose each with their eyes narrowed. With all said and done, Shaymin nodded and squealed, "Without further ado, let the match begin!" ringing the bell.


	23. Chapter 23

With the start of the match signalled, Incineroar wasted no time as he raced toward Orbeetle with his arm out. The ladybug was unable to respond, thus he took a strong clothesline to the area below his head and gasped in pain. However, Incineroar did not allow him to fall on his back and instead kept his arm there, shifting beside Orbeetle thus catching him in a choke hold. He would have gone behind him, but his shell was far too long for that.

The Indian crowd along with his friends went wild while Shaymin stated, "And already, Incineroar has Orbeetle in a tight spot! Let's see if the ladybird caves in this early into the match!"

However, after a few seconds, many audience members noticed something off. And this was made clear when one member of the Norwegian crowd laughed, "Does that stupid cat really think he's hurting him? Does he not even realize Orbeetle doesn't have a neck?"

Once the tiger heard this, his eyes went wide as he uttered, "Wait, what?" Orbeetle chuckling, "He's right. While your clothesline dealt some pain, this is nothing to me."

With that in mind, he lifted up his foot and shouted, "HORNET STOMP!" planting his stinger into Incineroar's foot. The tiger let out a loud cry of pain and released his hold just in time for the ladybug to shift his body sideways and ram the side of his shell hard into his cheek.

The crowd gasped when Incineroar reeled his head to the side and struggled to maintain balance. And of course, Orbeetle took full advantage of this and knelt down, shouting, "HORNET SWEEP!" sliding his foot sideways thus putting a cut in Incineroar's ankle.

The crowd stared in stunned silence when the tiger let out a loud meow in response to this and fell on his side. But while he clutched onto his ankle, his cheeks turned bright pink while he thought, 'Oh shit, did I just mew in public?'

Even his own friends could not help but stare at this. Ben and Allie both had blank looks on their faces while they just happened to think in unison, 'Oh my god, that's adorable,' while Scorbunny and Vaporeon tried their hardest not to chuckle. Even Morgrem and Rolycoly found this funny.

Either way, this was just the distraction Orbeetle needed, thus he hovered a good distance into the air and cupped his feet together, exclaiming, "HORNET DIVE BOMBER!" He then descended toward his downed opponent and planted his stingers into his gut, thus the tiger cried out in pain while a bit of blood squirted out of him.

It did not end there when Orbeetle removed his stingers and flipped Incineroar onto his belly. He then planted the stingers into his back and knelt down, gripping onto his chin and pulling up while shouting, "HORNET CAMEL CLUTCH!"

While Incineroar cried out in more pain, Tori exclaimed, "This is truly brutal, folks! While the match started favourably for Incineroar, it was simply not meant to last as Orbeetle already has him in what appears to be the most deadly camel clutch ever conceived! Can it really be over already!?"

The Indian crowd started to cheer for Incineroar while the Norwegian fans simply sat there with smiles on their faces and their arms crossed. As it so happened, Orbeetle was known to end matches with this one technique, so as far as they saw it, this was already over.

Wurmple stared at this and uttered, "Oh no. Rockruff's gonna be so disappointed," Ben narrowing his eyelids and thinking, 'Come on, Incineroar. You can get out of this easily, can't you?'

It looked as if it might not be as easy as it seemed for when the tiger attempted to pry Orbeetle's hands off of his chin, he found it surprisingly difficult. But how could someone with arms this skinny be this physically strong? It made no sense.

"I hate to end this so soon, but you might as well tap out," the ladybug said tauntingly, "This move has been known to shatter an opponent's spine."

Incineroar gritted his teeth and thought hard while his tail waved up and down. It was at that exact moment that he realized what he could do. As such, he whipped his tail toward Orbeetle and wrapped it around his waist.

The ladybug's eyes widened as he gasped, "HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" the tiger retorting, "What I should have done from the start."

He then started to pull upward with his tail while Orbeetle continued to hold onto his chin. And while this did cause Incineroar a tad more pain, this did not last when he pried the ladybug's feet out of his back. He then swung his tail backward and sent Orbeetle's back into the turnbuckle, the Indian crowd cheering wildly.

Vaporeon blinked and uttered, "Why didn't I think of that?" before she looked at her own tail, Drizzile uttering, "Now that you mention it, yeah, that should have been obvious."

"What a counter, folks!" Shaymin squealed, "Just as it looked like Orbeetle had this match in the bag, Incineroar fights back with his mighty tail! This fierce feline isn't gonna go down that easily, that's for sure!"

With Orbeetle now vulnerable, Incineroar leapt toward him and landed a flying two-legged kick to his gut. He then latched onto his shoulders and lifted him up, leaning backward and aiming his head toward the canvas.

Unfortunately for the tiger, Orbeetle was prepared for this. Thus he lowered his shell just in time for it to make contact with the canvas. Many stared silently at this before he pushed the shell up, propelling himself and his opponent into the air. Finally, he slipped right out of Incineroar's grasp and flipped himself one hundred and eighty degrees.

The tiger was in too much shock to respond when Orbeetle wrapped his legs around his, grabbing onto his ankles with his hands and shouting, "UFO DRIVER!" The Norwegian fans cheered while the two descended and the tiger's skull hit the canvas hard.

Incineroar coughed up blood, his eyes wide with shock. And when Orbeetle released him and allowed him to collapse, he lay there motionless while the crowd stared in shock save for the Norwegian fans who were beyond thrilled. And it only looked worse when Tori started the ten count.

"Oh my god," Drizzile uttered, "It's can't be over already, can it?" Rillaboom shaking her head and remarking, "No way. He's gotta get up from that. Someone that tough doesn't go down that easily."

"Damn straight," Ben grunted, "Come on, Incineroar, get up!"

And sure enough, when Tori reached seven seconds, Incineroar gritted his teeth, placed his hands firmly against the canvas and flipped himself upright. He breathed heavily while the Indian crowd cheered. While it seemed as if he should not have even risen back to his feet at first, he simply shook his head and patted his cheeks before straightening himself up.

Wurmple wiped sweat off of his forehead and sighed, "Oh, thank god. That was terrifying," Drizzile nodding his head with a smile. And just like before the match had begun, that filled the tiger with more fighting spirit than he already had while Orbeetle narrowed his eyelids.

"Don't look so confident," he grunted, "I came into this match expecting a challenge, but honestly, I'm not impressed. You may have physical strength on your side, but when you're this easy to take advantage of, that hardly matters."

"Shut it!" Incineroar retorted, "I'll admit, I underestimated you greatly! You got some impressive moves, but that's not gonna stop me! I haven't lost a match yet and that's not gonna change today!"

Orbeetle let out a sigh and hovered in place. He then pointed his shell up toward the sky and shouted, "UFO ROCKET!" releasing a large shock wave and launching himself forward.

However, Incineroar was ready this time. Thus he leapt to the side and sent a roundhouse into the ladybug's waist. Orbeetle's eyes widened before the tiger delivered a fierce elbow to his cheek followed by a sideways high kick to his chin.

The Indian fans, his friends and the Japanese crowd all went wild when Orbeetle fell on his back. And it did not end there when Incineroar leapt onto his gut and spat, "Let's see you get out of this!"

But just as he lashed out his claws and lit them on fire, Wurmple gasped, "Wait, Incineroar, get off of him, now!" Unfortunately, it was too late when Orbeetle once again pushed his shell back and took to the sky, sighing, "I would have thought even you would have learned your lesson by now."

However, he stared with confusion when Incineroar smirked and retorted, "I was prepared for this!" wrapping his feet around the ladybug's thus binding them in place. He then wrapped his arms around his head and planted his flaming claws into the back of it, drawing green blood. Then after latching his tail around Orbeetle's stingers, he let out a fierce battle cry and flipped himself over until both of their faces were directed toward the canvas and descended.

'This is fine,' Orbeetle thought, 'I'll just use my floatation to stop the collission,' only for a stream of flames to shoot out of Incineroar's belt and circle around the two. The tiger than proceeded to spin like a drill, thus the ladybug was too dizzy to do anything about the situation.

"PYRO HURRICANE MACH TWO!" Incineroar barked when Orbeetle's face made contact with the canvas. And sure enough, green blood escaped from his mouth and splashed on the tiger's face, but this hardly mattered to him. Thus he released his hold and stood upright, allowing Orbeetle to collapse while his fans all stared in awe.

"What an incredible turnaround!" Shaymin exclaimed with her own look of shock, "Things have not been going well for Incineroar, but it seems as if that one move might have ended the match!" Tori already having counted to three while Vaporeon and Wurmple breathed a sigh of relief.

After a while, Tori reached ten seconds and rang the bell before she exclaimed, "And with that, Orbeetle has lost and Incineroar will move onto round two!"

All of Incineroar's supporters went wild as the Norwegian crowd looked at their fallen hero with concern. Incineroar rose his arms in the air and turned toward Vaporeon and Ben with a grin. He and the human boy both gave each other a thumb up while Drizzile smiled lightly. Sure, the tiger was still just as scary of an opponent as he remembered, but he still wanted that rematch.

Either way, Incineroar took a deep breath and headed toward the bleachers for a good rest. Drizzile noticed this and waved before asking, "Hey, you wanna take my seat?"

The tiger blinked and said, "Oh yeah, that's right, you're up next," a grin on his face, "I'm looking forward to it. I wanna see just how much you really have improved."

The chameleon nodded and rose up from his seat just before Shaymin stated, "And with the first match out of the way, the next two fighters will have ten minutes to prepare themselves. Let's see if this match will be anywhere near as exciting as the one we just witnessed."

Sandaconda rose up from his seat as well before slithering off to the same store Incineroar had prepared himself in. Drizzile took a deep breath as Allie rubbed his shoulders and said, "You'll be awesome, I just know it."

"Yeah," the chameleon replied with a nod, "I'm sure I will be," and headed off toward the place Orbeetle had gone to for his own preparation.

Incineroar sat down next to Rillaboom and Allie before he turned to Ben and pounded his fist against his. Vaporeon held out her own fist so he could do the same for her.

But while Rillaboom and Scorbunny seemed fine around him, Morgrem and Rolycoly looked a tad nervous. Sure, Incineroar was clearly nicer and more understanding than his appearance suggested, but he still intimidated them to a certain degree.

Drizzile took a deep breath and thought, 'Alright, Mom, I know you're watching and I'm gonna make you even more proud than you are now. But first...' looking at a few items within the store.

Once ten minutes passed, Tori exclaimed, "It's now about time to begin the second match of round one! That first match was great, but this one is sure to be even better!"

Shaymin nodded and stated, "In the red corner is a tough chameleon from Ireland! He started off with a rather pathetic track record but has since climbed his way to the top! Everyone, give a round of applause for Drizzile!"

The crowd cheered while Drizzile exited the store with war markings on his face. Sure, he had used black lipstick for it, but the audience did not need to know that. And it certainly had an effect as everyone seemed impressed.

He then lathered his feet and skated toward the ring before leaping into the air and landing firmly against the surface. Needless to say, the crowd loved every second of this, Incineroar whistling and saying, "Not bad."

Once the crowd calmed down a bit, Shaymin exclaimed, "In the blue corner is a fierce fighter from Egypt! With speed and skill and a rather interesting build, she is Sandaconda!"

Everyone watched the snake bounce into the area like a spring, and it made sense. For some strange reason, her entire body was naturally curled to resemble the object in question. She had intimidating green eyes and two fang-like protrusions under her rather big snout. And around her neck was a large green ring with two brown spots on it and beefy arms attached to the sides.

Once she was close enough, she bounced high into the air and flipped herself upside down before she performed a handstand. The Egyptian crowd cheered and clapped while Drizzile sported a serious look. While she may have looked strange, he could tell that he could not afford to underestimate her.

And so, after a few seconds, Shaymin smiled and squealed, "Well, folks, the combatants are set! Let us begin!" ringing the bell thus signalling the start of the match.

Drizzile narrowed his eyelids and held his ground. After all, much like Rillaboom, he knew better than to just barrel into danger without thinking. And sure enough, Sandaconda was more than eager to make the first move, thus she leapt backward into the ropes and stretched them back while she squeezed her body inward like an actual spring.

After a few seconds, she exclaimed, "SPRING BULLET!" launching herself toward the chameleon at rapid speed. Luckily, Drizzile had seen such a move coming and thus he leapt to the side just in time to avoid it.

Sandaconda's eyes were wide with horror when her snout made contact with the opposing ropes. She then started to ricochet back and forth between both sides while Incineroar blinked and uttered, "Damn, that was a good opening strategy. She'll tire herself out easily doing that."

Even the Egyptian fans were not so sure about this. As hard as it was to believe, Drizzile was the first fighter to actually dodge this move and thus they had no idea how long the snake could keep this up. And sure enough, she took this into consideration as well, thus she frowned when she closed in on the ropes one more time and held out her arms, grabbing hold of them and stopping herself.

But just as it seemed like she was safe, Drizzile took full advantage of this and sprinted over to her from behind. The Irish crowd watched in amazement while he took hold of her tail and used all his might to pry her hands off of the ropes. He then leaned backward and planted her back into the canvas while all of his supporters cheered wildly.

However, his eyes went wide when Sandaconda pushed her tail in and sent it forward into his face. This caused him to release her before she flipped upright and took a deep breath, saying, "That was an impressive strategy, but not good enough. While that suplex did hurt to a certain degree, I can handle that with ease. Orbeetle isn't the only one who can cushion blows like that."

Everyone stared until Rillaboom gasped, "Of course! That ring around her neck must be really tough!" the snake nodding and explaining, "Very perceptive. You see, my skin is already pretty tough, but this ring is twice as strong as the rest of me. As such, any attack dealt to it only deals half the damage it would deal to any other part of me."

However, as soon as she said this, her eyes widened when Drizzile raced toward her and delivered a karate chop to her face. The crowd gasped as he spat, "Fine! I just won't hit that spot again!" unloading an onslaught of palm punches to that same spot while the Irish fans shrugged and cheered wildly.

"Way to go, Drizzile!" Scorbunny squealed before the chameleon wrapped his arms around Sandaconda and leapt into the air. He then leaned back far enough to plant her face into the canvas, her snout pushed inward while a light tear fell from her eye.

He released his hold and distanced himself from her with a smile on his face and said, "While that was unexpected, it wasn't quite as bad as Orbeetle's defence. At least that suplex still hurt you, even if it was just a little bit. But it's easy enough to exploit."

Ben stared at this with his jaw dropped and uttered, "Damn, he really has gotten better," Vaporeon uttering, "Oh yeah, we didn't actually see his match with Runerigus. This is our first time really seeing this side of him," Allie beaming bright and shouting, "Keep it up, Drizzile!"

"So far, Drizzile has been dominating this match!" Shaymin exclaimed, "This fighter who was once seen as Edmonton's weak link has truly proven himself a force to be reckoned with in only a little over a minute! Can Sandaconda possibly get the upper hand in this fight?"

As soon as Sandaconda heard that question she frowned and placed her hands against the mat. She then pushed herself up before her snout popped back to its normal length. She then flipped herself back upright and said, "I have a bit of a confession to make, Drizzile. See, I have heard that of all the heroes stationed in Tokyo, you were not to be taken seriously. As such, I decided to hold back a bit and save my best abilities for someone who was worthy."

"Oh god, Mommy's friends used to deal with this sort of thing a lot," Vaporeon groaned, "The worst part is that those who made claims like this weren't exactly blowing smoke. Drizzile might need to be careful."

The chameleon realized this and readied himself. However, he could not have predicted what happened next when Sandaconda released sand and wind from her nostrils. She then spun around like a twister and shouted, "DESERT DUST DEVIL!"

Some of the security staff gasped at the sight of the sand covering the entire area surrounding the ring. Luckily, Sandaconda had made sure not to spread it all the way to the bleachers, but even so, they knew this would likely take a while to clean up.

Drizzile shielded his face and started a coughing fit, tears forming on his eyes while Shaymin spat, "Well, folks, I can just barely make out what's going on! It seemed like Sandaconda has created a massive sandstorm around the fight area! Let's see if Drizzile can get around this!"

"Oh, come on!" Scorbunny snapped, "That's cheating!" Rillaboom sighing, "Well, it is certainly a cheap tactic, but it's not against the rules. As long as it's a natural power and not a weapon, it's perfectly legal."

Sure enough, Drizzile could barely make out a thing now, and Sandaconda planned to take full advantage of this. As such, she jumped backward toward the ropes and stretched them back, once again squishing her body inward. And once she was ready, she exclaimed, "SPRING BULLET!" and launched herself toward the chameleon.

Unlike before, Drizzile was unable to defend himself, thus he took her skull to his gut and coughed up blood. He was pushed back into the ropes and trapped up against them while the material started to give way. However, Sandaconda had too much pride to win via ring out and thus she wrapped her arms around him and bounced away from the ropes, landing perfectly on her tail.

"That didn't sound good," Rillaboom uttered, "Do any of you know what's happening?" Vaporeon gritting her teeth and growling, "From what I could make out, it looks like Drizzile's been hit."

It only got worse for him when Sandaconda squished her body inward and bounced high above the ring. She then flipped herself one hundred and eighty degrees and descended toward the canvas, shouting, "SPRING WARHEAD!"

When Drizzile's skull was rammed into the canvas, he coughed up even more blood and closed his eyes just in time for the sandstorm to fade. The Egyptian fans cheered while everyone else gasped in horror at the sight of his body just lying there, his head tilted sideways.

Shaymin blinked and uttered, "And after such an impressive start, it looks as if Drizzile has lost. Whatever Sandaconda did must have really been something," Tori starting the ten count as Rillaboom and Scorbunny's jaws dropped, Vaporeon biting her lower lip.

Morgrem and Rolycoly embraced one-another and trembled while Incineroar sighed, "Man, that sucks. And I was looking forward to that rematch, too."

But just as Tori was about to reach six seconds, Allie stood up and spat, "COME ON, DRIZZILE!" many turning toward her, "You took in far worse punishment from Runerigus! I know you can handle this! Now get up and win!"

The Irish crowd blinked before they nodded and started to chant his name. Sandaconda let out a sigh and rolled her eyes when Tori reached nine. But just as she was about to point forward one last time, Drizzile's eyes widened before he flipped back to his feet.

He breathed heavily while the area erupted with cheers and applause, Sandaconda turning to face him with terror in her expression. Sure, she had only dealt three hits to him, but even so, she figured a fall from that height had to have been enough to finish him off.

Either way, the chameleon took a deep breath and grunted, "The old me would have fallen to that easily, but you're dealing with the new me now. I can handle pain like this," everyone truly impressed.

Even so, Sandaconda frowned and thought, 'Guess I'll have to kick things up another notch. Very well. I'll still come out on top, mark my words.'


	24. Chapter 24

While Drizzile had recovered from Sandaconda's powerful slam, the match was not over yet. As such, he knew he would need to be careful in case she had something even worse up her sleeve.

After a few seconds, she breathed in heavily through her snout before Scorbunny frowned and grunted, "Is she seriously gonna use that cheap ass sandstorm technique again?"

"I hope not," Vaporeon groaned, "Even after seeing it once, I'm not really sure how anyone could dodge that."

It seemed this might be the case when Sandaconda released more sand from her nostrils. However, this time, she sent the wind toward Drizzile and shouted, "SAND BLASTER!" pelting Drizzile with large clumps of the substance.

Not only did this put light bruises on him, but things only got worse when two clumps struck his eyes. This caused him to groan in pain and fly backward, falling on his back while even the Egyptian fans could not help but wince. After all, they knew how it felt to have sand in one's eyes.

"Oh my god, that's awful!" Ben gasped, "The sandstorm was bad enough, but that's just cruel!" Incineroar grunting, "Yeah, and it's about to get a lot worse. Look."

Just as Drizzile rose to his feet and reached up to wipe the sand off, Sandaconda smirked and spat a considerable amount of saliva toward him. And when it splashed his face, the audience groaned in disgust. However, Rillaboom was less disgusted and more concerned as she uttered, "Oh no, she really did make things much worse."

Sure enough, that small wad of spit had hardened the sand by a lot. As such, Drizzile tried desperately to pry it off but to no avail, grunting, "Oh, come on! This is unfair!"

"That poor, helpless reptile," Shaymin whimpered with tears in her eyes, Tori staring at her and uttering, "Are you crying?" the hedgehog nodding and sniffing, "To have his eyesight stripped away just like that! I wouldn't wish that kind of fate on anyone!"

"I'm sure we can fix that when the match is over," Tori said reassuringly, "Though it is nice to see you show concern, even if it is our job to be neutral."

Of course, it did not end there as Sandaconda bounced high into the air and descended toward Drizzile. Once close enough, her tail struck him hard in the forehead and caused him to back up while he bit his lower lip and tried his hardest to figure out where that attack had come from. He tried covering his hands in water and rubbing on the sand, but all this did was make it harder as Sandaconda smirked.

"You moron, don't you know how sand works?" she asked tauntingly, "When sand gets wet, it hardens! You're only making it worse!"

She then launched herself toward him with her arm out and rammed it into his neck, knocking him on his back. After that, she bounced into the air and leaned backward with her arms crossed in front of her. And sure enough, the chameleon was unable to respond, thus she rammed them both into his gut and caused him to cough up more blood.

Once again, Drizzile was barely able to stand, but by this point, he had no idea what he could possibly do. At least in the sandstorm, he was able to make out a few things. But with the sand completely blocking his eyesight, what could he possibly do?

Just as Sandaconda leapt backward into the ropes to set up her Spring Bullet, though, Rillaboom's eyes widened as she gasped, "Wait a minute!" turning to Vaporeon and asking, "Hey, is it against the rules for audience members to help fighters during an official match?"

The fox blinked and gasped, "No, it isn't!" and thus she smiled and exclaimed, "Hey, Drizzile, she's about to use her Spring Bullet again! Leap into the air and set up an axe kick!" Rillaboom adding, "But make sure to wait three seconds!"

The others were confused by this, but since the gorilla was at least good at strategizing, they figured she knew what she was talking about. And sure enough, when Sandaconda launched herself forward, Drizzile did exactly as instructed and jumped high into the air after three seconds passed. He then sent his leg downward just in time for his foot to land hard into the snake's back.

Sandaconda cried out in pain and fell hard on her belly while the Irish crowd cheered, some of them giving Rillaboom and Vaporeon looks of gratitude. Both of them blushed before they noticed Sandaconda slowly rise back to her feet.

With that in mind, they nodded at one-another before Rillaboom barked, "Hey, Drizzile, strike her while she's recovering!" and since the chameleon now knew she was in front of him, he formed water around his hands and morphed it into a pair of blades, shouting, "AQUATIC DAGGERS!" leaping over her and striking her in the back with both of them.

The snake hissed in pain and turned to see blood fly from the wounds Drizzile had created. As such, she could tell she needed to take this a step further. She had come so close and she did not wish to completely lose the upper hand.

All the while, Allie breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That was quick thinking," Rillaboom nodding and saying, "Well, to be fair, Sandaconda's moves aren't too difficult to figure out, especially since most of them are spring based."

Sandaconda took a deep breath and grunted, "I have to admit, you're much more of a pest than I figured you'd be. You've already forced me to use two moves that I'd hoped to save for later, but I guess I have to reveal all of my tactics now! I hope you're ready for this!"

With that in mind, she proceeded to release more sand and wind from her nostrils. However, she plugged up the sides closest to the middle of her snout with her fingers, shouting, "SAND BLASTER!"

This allowed the wind to shoot sideways and curve inward. Scorbunny blinked and uttered, "What's that supposed to accomplish?" only for Vaporeon to squeak, "Oh no, I know exactly what she's doing!"

And sure enough, when the sand reached the curved part, it headed straight into the sides of Drizzile's head. What shocked everyone the most, though, was that it actually went inside of those very spots, Shaymin blinking and asking, "Wait, where's that sand going?"

"Hey, Drizzile, are you okay?" Allie asked only for the chameleon to gasp, "OH MY GOD, I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?"

Even the Egyptian crowd could not help but feel bad for Drizzile right now. None of them could even imagine how awful it must have been to have that much sand lodged deep inside their ears. But either way, with this hindrance, Sandaconda knew he could no longer take advice.

"So now he's been blinded and deafened," Rillaboom groaned, "That's just cruel," Allie whimpering, "I don't even care if he wins. I just hope that's not permanent."

Sure enough, Drizzile no longer had any idea what was going on. He felt as if he had been trapped in a dark room with no way to contact the outside world. And things were about to get much worse when Sandaconda bounced into the air and planted her tail into his skull, knocking him on his back. She then lifted him up and spun around like a top, exclaiming, "DREIDEL TOSS!" hurling him hard into the turnbuckle.

Drizzile groaned and felt around to see what he had just hit with blood dripping down his forehead. But of course, Sandaconda would not allow him to get any sort of advantage again, thus she approached him and lifted him up by his shoulders. She bounced into the air and flipped one hundred and eighty degrees, shouting, "SPRING WARHEAD!"

Sure enough, Drizzile's skull hit the canvas once more before he coughed up blood, the snake allowing him to collapse and leaping away from him. The Egyptian crowd blinked and shrugged before cheering for her, everyone else mortified by this.

"My god!" Shaymin whimpered, "I wanted excitement, but this might be too far!" Tori nodding in agreement, once again not even caring about the fact that they were supposed to neutral.

But just as the woman was about to start the ten count once more, everyone gasped when Drizzile suddenly pushed himself back up and shook the pain off of his head. Rillaboom blinked before Incineroar uttered, "Since when could he take that kind of abuse?"

However, this did not seem to mean much. At this point, his body was twitching all over while he struggled to maintain his footing. And of course, Sandaconda would not let him get to her again, thus she jumped into the ropes and squished her body inward once more. All the while everyone stared in horror and wished they could warn Drizzile.

"SPRING BULLET!" she exclaimed before she launched herself toward the chameleon. However, just as it seemed like he was about to take in the blow, everyone gasped when he stepped to the side just in time to avoid it.

'What!?' Sandaconda thought as she was too distracted to stop herself from bouncing back and forth between the ropes. Drizzile stood still while this happened and thought, 'I can feel it. I can feel her presence. I didn't know I could do that.'

Inteleon, who had watched all of this at home, went wide-eyed and thought, 'Did he just do what I think he did?'

Drizzile continued to stand for a few more seconds before lifting up his hand and forming water around it. He then morphed it into a katana while the crowd stared in awe before he shouted, "AQUATIC ASSASSINATION!" and swung his hand downward just in time to strike Sandaconda's side.

She cried out in pain while a bit of blood flew out and finally stopped her flight. She then skidded across the canvas until she came to a stop, her arms spread out and her eyes closed. All went silent among the crowd, all of Drizzile's friends in disbelief. While he had become a very good fighter, none of them had expected him to pull off something like this.

"And in a stunning display, Drizzile has struck his opponent in midair despite having no way of knowing she was there," Shaymin stated while Tori gasped and started the ten count.

Allie blinked and uttered, "Wow, that was so cool," before she turned to Scorbunny and Rillaboom and asked, "Did you know he could do that?"

Both of them shrugged and shook their heads as Incineroar grinned and hoped that really had been enough to end the match. Now he wanted to face Drizzile even more, Ben truly stunned by this.

Despite having been delayed a bit, Tori managed to reach ten seconds just as Sandaconda had finally regained focus. Thus the snake was beyond disappointed when she heard the bell ring followed by the woman exclaiming, "And on that note, Drizzile has won the match and will continue to represent Ireland in round two!"

The Irish crowd broke out into heavy cheers and applause while Drizzile still had no idea what was going on. And it seemed as if his troubles were not yet over when Sandaconda pushed herself up and gazed upon him with a blank expression in her eyes.

"Hey, Sandaconda, you've already lost!" Shaymin barked, "If you attack him, we'll have to eject you from the area!" her eyes wide with shock when the snake leaned in and breathed hot air from her mouth onto the sand that covered Drizzile's eyes.

Everyone else stared as the substance dried completely. This allowed the snake to wipe it off of his face before everyone could see the sand in his head fall out of the sides. As such, the chameleon blinked and gasped, "Oh my god, I can see!" sticking his thumbs into the sides of his head and adding, "And there's no more sand there. Thank god."

Sandaconda nodded and held out her hand, saying, "That was a good match. You were an incredible opponent," the chameleon holding out his hand before noticing the big gash in her side while he thought, 'Oh my god, I really did hit her with that.'

While he shook her hand with a look of confusion, he turned to face his friends before Allie beamed brightly and squealed, "Drizzile, you did it! You won the match!"

Drizzile's eyes were wide with shock as Sandaconda let go of his hand and said, "Yes, you got me good. I don't know how you managed to do that while blind and deaf, but it was the most impressive thing I've ever seen."

The chameleon wanted to explain what he had felt, but even he had no idea how to really describe it. With that in mind, he simply smiled and bowed his head to Sandaconda who bowed back. And so, both exited the ring while their fanbases cheered and applauded. Sure, the Egyptians were disappointed that their representative had lost the first match, but they were happy to see none of it end in bitterness.

Drizzile returned to the others before Allie held him in a tight embrace, Incineroar laughing, "That was awesome! I really thought you were screwed there!" Ben nodding and uttering, "I'd love to learn how to fight like that."

"Honestly, I'm not even entirely sure what I did," Drizzile replied with a light chuckle, Rillaboom sighing, "Oh well. I doubt you'll have to deal with that again, anyway."

Just as they were about to sit back down, Shaymin stated, "And with the first two matches out of the way, it is time for our first location change! For our next two matches, we will move to the Edmonton Convention Centre! Staff will be there to point you where you need to go once you arrive, though hurry. The next match begins in only one hour."

Allie blinked and uttered, "That's quite a ways from here. We'd better hurry," Scorbunny nodding as they all headed outside to see multiple buses lined up. But just as the heroes were about to enter, the driver stated, "Oh, you guys don't need to take the bus. You all get to ride in style," directing them toward a pair of fairly big limos.

All six stared with their jaws dropped, Morgrem uttering, "We actually get to ride in a limo," only for the driver to reply, "No, only the remaining contestants ride in the limos. Everyone else takes these government funded buses."

Allie shrugged and said, "At least we get a free ride," before she gave Drizzile, Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Vaporeon a wave.

The four of them returned the gesture and headed toward the limos as the drivers informed them that a red one had been reserved for those partaking in the first half of round one while a blue one was for the second half. And while it took a while, Drizzile realized this meant he could not ride with his friends.

As such, he smiled at them and said, "I'll see you guys at the centre, I guess," before Scorbunny nodded and replied, "Well, it'll be less than an hour. I'm sure you'll manage."

And so, everyone headed into their respective vehicles before they took off. Drizzile felt at least a tad comfortable since he was seated next to Incineroar, though he tensed up when he could feel Unown gazing upon him as if he was somehow a prime target for the odd being.

Although odd barely scratched the surface when it came to this thing's design. He was entirely black and had a very human-like structure, but every part of him was made up of what looked like some sort of oddly designed letter of the alphabet, thus his body had exactly twenty six parts to it. But the most intimidating of all was his head, which resembled the letter O with an eyeball in the middle of it.

Monferno, all the while, simply smirked at him. She was fully confident that she would come out on top, especially against someone so skinny.

Once the vehicles arrived, everyone headed inside where they were led to one of three halls, specifically A. Sure enough, many bleachers had been set up and a ring was right in the middle. There were also cambros full of water set up with plastic cups next to them.

Scorbunny, all the while, looked around and said, "I have to admit, after West Edmonton, this is kind of a letdown," Vaporeon sighing, "Well, to be fair, this isn't a big shopping mall."

Either way, Allie shrugged and said, "Well, at least we got something fun to look forward to," Rillaboom adding, "Not to mention none of these matches involve any of our close friends. That takes a huge load off my back."

Drizzile, however, had a serious look in his eyes. While it was true that he no longer had a reason to pick a side, he still needed to pay attention. After all, he could have very well wound up facing the winner of this match in the semi-finals.

Shaymin and Tori were once again seated, only this time they were behind two podiums. The hedgehog smiled and exclaimed, "Attention, citizens of Edmonton! It's just about time for the third match to begin!"

Everyone gave their undivided attention while Tori added, "It's been really exciting so far! I swear, that last match was such a rush! But I'm certain these next two will likely be just as good if not better!"

"After such a close call, I doubt it," Morgrem said with a shrug, "Seriously, that was intense," Drizzile laughing nervously and thinking, 'Once this round is over, I'll have to call Mom and ask her about that. She might know how I pulled that off.'

"In the red corner, coming to us from China is a fierce monkey with a powerful fighting spirit!" Tori stated, "Her family has quite the impressive legacy and she's here to carry on that legacy today! Everyone, give a round of applause for Monferno!"

The Chinese crowd clapped and cheered when Monferno performed a somersault toward the ring and propelled herself into the air. She then performed a handstand on the turnbuckle with one finger and flipped off of it, landing on her tail with her arms and legs folded. Needless to say, the crowd was truly astounded by this while Scorbunny gasped, "So cool!"

Rolycoly blinked and uttered, "I can see why her family's so famous, especially if they could all pull off moves like that," only for Rillaboom to stroke her chin and say, "I may need to ask her for advice on my entrance. I was just gonna march toward the ring."

Shaymin waited for the cheers to die down a bit before she exclaimed, "And in the blue corner is a mysterious figure from Mexico! While he apparently has a good reputation, not much is known about him! Hard as it is to believe, today marks the first time he has ever allowed anyone to record any of his matches! Apparently, he's been saving his skills for this event, and thus none of us have any idea what to expect from him! Give it up for Unown!"

Unown entered the area and made his way toward the ring. Since he was saving his abilities for this match, he saw no need to show them off right now. Thus when he got close to the ring, he grabbed hold of the rope and pulled himself up over it. And of course, the Mexican fans went wild, all of them more than ready to see him in action.

Monferno smirked and struck a pose, saying, "Shaymin says you refused to let anyone record you because you want to surprise us, but I think it's because deep down, you suck and you're too afraid to show it. Your mistake was entering the Olympics in the first place. I'm willing to bet you only got this far because of pure dumb luck. You probably had no intention of making it this far."

The Mexican crowd glared angrily, but just as one member was about to speak up, Unown held up his hand and asked, "Are you just going to stand there making assumptions or are you actually going to fight me?"

The monkey narrowed her eyelids and grunted, "You're right. I'm wasting valuable time that I could spend kicking your ass."

Once both were ready, Shaymin nodded and said, "Well, now that the smack talk is over, let's begin." And thus she rang the bell before Monferno lit the tip of her tail on fire.


	25. Chapter 25

After quite a long wait, it was finally time for Monferno and Unown to square off. However, right now, many who were not familiar with the monkey were fascinated by the flame that had just formed on her tail. As if this in itself was not amazing enough, the flame was the exact same length as the tail in question.

The Chinese crowd were beyond excited now as Scorbunny uttered, "Oh, wow, that's a big flame," Tori explaining, "For those unaware, that flame is a staple of Monferno's family. Not only is it a powerful weapon, but its length represents the user's fighting spirit. Right now, it's as long as it can get."

Monferno smirked and leapt toward Unown, flipping vertically and shouting, "SCORCHING TAIL WHIP!" She then rammed the tip of her tail hard into the odd being's skull, the Chinese crowd cheering while smoke rose from his head.

The monkey then wrapped her tail around his neck and exclaimed, "SCORCHING TAIL NOOSE!" holding tight while the flame caused more smoke to rise from him. But just as it looked like he was about to respond, she lifted her feet up and sent them hard into his chest. This caused him to wince and back away after she released him.

But of course, Monferno could not just let it end there. As such, she jumped toward him and planted both of her feet into his cheeks, Incineroar, who was seated between Ben and Wurmple, uttering, "Damn, she's good."

Before Unown could attempt a counter attack, Monferno flipped a full three hundred and sixty degrees backwards, released her hold and allowed him to fly back-first into the turnbuckle. The Chinese fans were beyond thrilled right now while Tori stated, "And Monferno wastes no time getting the upper hand! She has just unleashed a devastating onslaught while Unown can't even attempt to hit her!"

Drizzile stared in stunned silence for a few seconds. He then blinked and uttered, "Oh god," his friends knowing exactly what he meant by this. While it was still a ways away, there was a good chance he may very well have had to face her in the semi-finals.

Monferno smirked while Unown flipped himself over and rose back to his feet and asked in a mocking tone, "Oh, what's wrong? Was I too rough?" the odd being narrowing his eye and remarking, "You call that rough? That barely hurt."

Most of the crowd looked shocked save for the Mexican crowd. Many of them seemed to have already seen this reaction coming, and it was soon made clear why when one said, "That's how Unown fights. He gets to know his opponent's abilities first and then goes in for the kill."

Monferno, however, growled and retorted, "You're just trying to scare me!" thus she leapt toward him and spun horizontally, shouting, "SCORCHING TAIL WHIP!"

However, this time, Unown was ready. Thus when she was close enough, he held out his right hand, which was shaped like a W, and grabbed hold of her tail. Despite smoke once again rising up from him, this time he did not show the slightest hint of a reaction as he lifted her up and slammed her back into the canvas.

What happened next, though, was even more shocking as he exclaimed, "ANCIENT POWER!" and detached all of his letters. Thus they floated in the air and circled around his head, though some of them moved around while he closed his eye and enquired, "What form should I take? Oh, I know."

He then reconnected his letters, only now they had all taken on the shape of a monkey. Monferno stared at this, fumed and barked, "Are you mocking me!?"

But when she attempted to sweep his legs with her tail, he easily jumped over it and balanced on his new tail. He then sprang into the air and descended toward her only for her to flip backwards just in time to avoid it. But as soon as she landed, the odd being sent a sideways kick into her gut before she flew backwards and tumbled along the mat.

The Chinese crowd stared while Vaporeon uttered, "Does anyone know what just happened?" Rillaboom stroking her chin and replying, "His speed seems to have increased by a lot."

Monferno, however, saw this as nothing to worry about and pushed herself up only for Unown to leap toward her and send a two-legged kick into her face. He then turned around and wrapped his tail around her neck, saying, "You may need a flame for power, but I don't need such a handicap."

He then jumped high above the mat and flipped vertically, shouting, "ANCIENT MONKEY FLYING WHEEL!" ramming Monferno's back into the surface before she coughed up blood.

"And in only four hits, Unown has already drawn blood!" Shaymin exclaimed with her eyes wide open. Panic spread through the area as Unown chuckled, "Well, I guess we know who the better monkey is, don't we?"

"Hey, shut up," Monferno grunted while she slowly pushed herself upright, "You're not even a real monkey," though deep down, she felt as if she could no longer continue. This was made clear when her tail flame shrunk considerably.

She could not believe it. It was just as Shaymin said. Unown had dealt an incredible amount of pain with the same number of moves she had used up to this point. But even so, there was no way she would lose this easily.

As such, she leapt toward Unown and attempted to grab his head only for him to balance himself on his tail and lean backward. And when Monferno's arms missed, her eyes widened as he positioned himself upright and rammed his face into her forehead.

Afterwards, he took a deep breath and yelled, "ANCIENT POWER!" his letters separating again while the Mexican crowd grinned as if they knew exactly what he was about to do. And after a few seconds, he took on the form of a scorpion and pressed his pincers right up against Monferno's arms.

"You were an okay warmup, I guess," he said before he sent his tail toward her forehead and planted his stinger into it. However, he made sure not to plant it too deep as he knew he could very well kill her if he did that, and he did not wish to be disqualified.

He then stood upright and leapt into the air, flipping one hundred and eighty degrees and shouting, "ANCIENT SCORPION SUPLEX!" ramming the spellbound Monferno's skull into the canvas.

Silence spread through the entire area while he removed his stinger and allowed the monkey to collapse. Blood dripped from her forehead while she lay there and the flame on her tail shrank more and more until it was nothing but a puff of smoke. When Tori reached ten seconds, she nodded and rang the bell, thus the Chinese crowd stared silently while the Mexicans had wide grins on their faces.

"And after a surprisingly short match, Unown has won and will therefor advance to round two!" Tori stated, thus the Mexican fans went wild while everyone else had only just gotten over the shock of all of that. Now they understood why Unown refused to let his previous matches be recorded. There was no way anyone could have predicted any of that.

Monferno was taken away on a stretcher while Drednaw and Magnezone both rose from their seats. Just as the cyborg was about to head off to prepare himself, though, Burstoise patted him on the shoulder and said, "You can totally take that guy in round two, right?"

"He will be a challenge, but I'm ninety seven percent certain I can figure out his tactics," Magnezone replied with a nod, "I'll need to know what else he can transform into, but it's nothing I can't deal with."

All the while, Drednaw had a serious look in her eyes while she marched to a secluded area to ready herself for her match. Right now, all that mattered to her was Magnezone. Unown would have to wait.

Allie watched them both head off before sighing, "Wow, I was not expecting that," turning to Drizzile with concern. Sure enough, he could not help but breathe heavily with a look of fear in his eyes. He had faced many a powerful opponent, but no one had intimidated him this much.

And the others could not blame him. Even Scorbunny felt a twinge of fear. Sure, she and the others had already faced plenty of strong opponents. Grimmsnarl and his team had been especially frightening, and yet something about Unown rubbed them the wrong way. After all, he had ended the match with a move that, had he applied more pressure, could have caused brain damage or worse.

Rolycoly took a deep breath and said, "Maybe it's a good thing we didn't make it this far," Morgrem nodding her head. As much as it pained her to admit it, she actually agreed with him.

Rillaboom took a deep breath and said, "Well, look on the bright side, Drizzile. If you and him advance to the semi-finals, at least you'll be able to see him in action again so you can study his tactics. Monferno may have failed, but I'm sure you can succeed."

The chameleon bit his lower lip and tried not to look doubtful. After all, he had defeated a much scarier opponent, so maybe he could beat Unown if the situation called for it. Either way, he would have much to discuss with his mother later.

After ten minutes had passed, the crowd finally settled down. Though a big part of the reason for this was because, for some strange reason, Unown had left the area. Whereas most fighters still competing would have normally stuck around to study their upcoming opponents, it seemed as if the odd being saw no need to sit in the stands now that his match was over.

This also gave Shaymin enough time to cool off before she stated, "Ladies and gentlemen, that was certainly an unexpected match, but we still have more tournament to go! This one especially has been highly anticipated by many!"

Tori nodded and stated, "In the red corner, hailing from Germany is a powerful metallic being with an insanely high IQ! With lord knows how many ideas brewing up in his head, Magnezone!"

The German fans went wild while the cyborg marched toward the ring. He then rose his arms in the air and released electric sparks from his magnet hands. Burstoise simply folded her arms and said, "Come on, you can do better than that," thus the cyborg implied a smirk with his eye and sighed, "Fine."

Thus he placed his magnets together and held them there until a large burst of electricity came out, more sparks flying like fireworks. Needless to say, the crowd was truly amazed as Rillaboom uttered, "Oh man, it's gonna be hard to top that."

Scorbunny and Drizzile both stared at her while she shrugged and asked, "What?" Though deep down, she knew why. She had never really cared about her entrances until this moment. Just seeing so much effort made her realize how important this might very well be during such a big event.

"And in the blue corner-" Shaymin stated, "coming to us from Iceland is a powerful tortoise with a rock hard shell, quite literally! Everyone, give it up for Drednaw!"

The Icelandic crowd cheered wildly while the tortoise marched toward the ring and leapt into it. She then held her arms in the air and let out a loud battle cry before she stared Magnezone down with a serious look in her eyes.

The cyborg gazed upon her and thought, 'This one will certainly be tough. Not only is she a water type but she's also a rock type. But even so, I imagine she's nowhere near as powerful as Burstoise, and considering that I once bested her during a sparring match, my victory's pretty much guaranteed.'

After a few more seconds, Shaymin nodded and squealed, "Well, folks, the combatants are set! Let's begin!" ringing the bell.

With that, Magnezone held a stance and waited for Drednaw to make the first move. She could tell that was his strategy, but even so, she felt like she could take whatever he had to dish out. And thus she charged toward him as fast as she could go.

"Easy," Magnezone said with an implied smirk. He then waited for her to close in before he stepped to the side, Drednaw's eyes and mouth wide with shock as he held his right hand up to her cheek and shouted, "ONE THOUSAND WATTS!" sending an electric surge through her.

The tortoise cried out in agonizing pain before swinging her fist up into his hand to knock it off of her. She then stepped to the side and breathed heavily with a look of terror while Tori explained, "Drednaw has every reason to be surprised, folks. For those unaware, members of Magnezone's family have never been able to produce electricity and have always relied on magnetic force for their moves. However, Magnezone has the DNA of an electric type hero in his genes, so he has that added element to make his moves much stronger."

Allie blinked and uttered, "Really," before pulling out her phone to see if she could find any info. And after a few seconds, she nodded and said, "Says here his dad married Mareep."

Drednaw rubbed her cheek and swung her arm at the cyborg only for him to dodge and grab hold of her arm. He then sent more electricity through her and allowed himself to fall backward thus slamming her into the canvas. He continued to hold onto her arm and wrapped his legs around her neck, shouting, "LIGHTNING TRIANGLE CHOKE!"

The German fans cheered wildly while Magnezone sighed, "Let me guess, you thought you could take whatever I had to dish out, didn't you? It is true that my family isn't exactly known for high physical strength, but we are known for near flawless battle strategies. Although my great grandpa's track record wouldn't exactly tell you that."

Drednaw fumed and struggled to free herself before she suddenly remembered how she had stopped that black rat from harming her. Thus she shifted her arm around, and while this did cause her more pain, it also allowed her spike to scrape against Magnezone's body.

The cyborg winced and released his hold, rising up at the same time as the tortoise. But while he had taken in some slight pain, he knew this fight was still in his favour when he saw her rubbing her arm. As such, he smirked and sent a roundhouse into her belly before she could fully recover.

Drednaw grunted in pain before Magnezone took hold of her shoulders and sent more electricity into her. He then leaned his head back and sent it forward into her skull. But he did not let it end there as he proceeded to wrap his arms around the same spot he had grabbed and pointed his magnets downward.

"Time for a family favourite," he stated before he exclaimed, "SONIC BOOM!" A shock wave shot from his magnets as he flew high into the air. He then proceeded to released Drednaw's shoulders and use his legs to flip her upside down. But just as he latched onto her legs and pointed his magnets toward the sky, the tortoise narrowed her eyelids and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Magnezone tensed up while she growled, "I'll admit, that electricity of yours really threw me off guard! But while I may be water based, I'm also rock based! Something you probably didn't realize is that my shell has been absorbing some of your electricity! Not enough to keep me from taking in pain, obviously, but enough to keep me from taking in too much damage!"

She then used her superior strength to flip herself and the cyborg one hundred and eighty degrees just in time for the two to descend toward the mat. And while Magnezone could have easily used his magnetic force to at least soften the blow, he was in too much shock to react and thus his skull hit the canvas hard.

The Icelandic crowd cheered wildly while Shaymin squealed, "Wow! What a comeback! It looked like Drednaw was no match for Magnezone's intellect, but it seems even a super genius can miscalculate from time to time!"

Burstoise stared in shock when Drednaw released her hold. But of course, Magnezone was not done yet, thus he pressed his magnets against the mat and unleashed smaller shock waves to pry his head out of the mat with ease. Even so, he had to admit that he was not only frightened but embarrassed.

'Dammit, I should have seen that coming!' he thought with his eyelid lowered, 'I'll have to weaken her more before I try that move. Even if her shell absorbed some of the electricity, that doesn't mean it hasn't been making my moves stronger. Like she said, it's still managed to show an effect. I'll just have to return to how I was fighting before.'

At this point, Drednaw refused to allow him to take advantage of her, thus she started to unleash a slew of punches toward him. However, Magnezone would not allow her to land another hit, thus he held up his magnets and blocked the incoming blows. And while she was distracted, he lifted up his leg and sent it sideways into her shin.

But while this certainly showed a reaction, the cyborg's eye widened when she ignored it and sent a hard punch into his face. With his guard dropped, she unloaded more and more blows upon him, small dents forming on his body.

"I will admit that your tactics are good, very good," Drednaw grunted while she finally ended her assault and placed a firm grip on his shoulders, "But as long as I tough it out and treat the pain like a minor inconvenience, even the best strategies won't mean a thing against me!"

But just as she was about to ram her horn into his forehead, the cyborg planted his magnets up against her chest and implied a smirk with his eyes, asking, "So you mean to tell me even this won't have an effect," before barking, "SONIC BOOM!"

He then released a large shock wave, thus she released him and flew backwards just far enough for him to regain focus. He then pointed his magnets backwards and aimed his skull toward her chin before he used another shock wave to launch himself into the very spot.

Drednaw could no longer ignore the pain as she grunted in response to this. Thus Magnezone latched onto her shoulders once more and launched himself and her high above the ground, shouting, "SONIC BOOM!"

Once they were high enough, he refused to give her another chance to respond. Thus he flipped her upside down only for the tortoise to once again fight through the pain, open her mouth and bite into his ankle after shouting, "STONE JAWS!"

A mixture of oil and blood trickled out of that very spot as Magnezone tensed up and spat, "OH NO YOU DON'T! MAGNET BOMB!" releasing shock waves into the air and falling toward the canvas at rapid speed.

Drednaw realized she would need to think fast. In a situation like this, she could not just rely on her strength alone. As such, she removed her jaws from Magnezone's ankle right before her head made contact with the canvas, a cloud of smoke forming around the two fighters.

All went silent among the crowd until the smoke cleared. Excitement filled the Icelandic fans while Magnezone's eye was wide with terror. Sure enough, Drednaw had lowered her head just enough for her horn to lodge itself into the canvas, thus she took in no damage from the fall.

And of course it did not end there as she latched her legs around Magnezone's head and used her hands to push herself up out of the mat. She then allowed herself to fall forward and slammed the cyborg's skull into the surface before standing up and grabbing hold of his ankles. She lifted him up and pressed his back against her horn, that very spot coming open as he cried out in pain and his oil and blood trickled onto the horn.

The German fans all winced while Allie and the others stared at this. After she pulled on Magnezone's forehead and legs, Drednaw figured he had taken in enough damage to his back. Thus she leapt into the air and tilted herself backward, shouting, "ROCK BACKBREAKER SLAM!"

When Magnezone's side hit the canvas hard, he gasped in pain and closed his eye. Burstoise stood up and spat, "MAGNEZONE!" before Drednaw released him and pushed herself back to her feet.

"After avoiding a collision with the mat, Drednaw has knocked Magnezone unconscious with what appears to be a combination of a backbreaker and a brainbuster!" Shaymin stated, "Let's see if he can recover from that!" Tori having now counted to five seconds.

Sure enough, she soon reached ten and thus she rang the bell and exclaimed, "And that's that! Drednaw is our winner!" the Icelandic crowd cheering louder than before while Drednaw lifted her arm triumphantly into the air.

"Damn," Scorbunny uttered, "She's not one to be messed with," before Rillaboom nodded and said, "You might end up facing her, eh, Drizzile?"

The chameleon was not sure about that. While Drednaw was certainly tough, a part of him felt like he would have much rather had her as an opponent.

But either way, everyone knew they would have to take off soon when Shaymin squealed, "Wow, what an exciting pair of matches, but that only concludes the first half of round one! We will begin the second half in Hawrelak Park, specifically this area!"

She then brought up a map of the area in question and pointed to a location near a lake that was shaped like a crescent moon, though why specifically she chose a spot like that was anyone's guess. Either way, Scorbunny could not contain her excitement. It was finally her turn to go up and impress the world with her skills, and of course, she knew full well that her family would be watching as well, so she definitely had to make this count.


	26. Chapter 26

With the third and forth matches out of the way, everyone was headed to Hawrelak Park. However, Shaymin had also decided to extend the preparation time by an extra fifteen minutes since Unown and Monferno's match had been surprisingly short. This meant that everyone could at least enjoy the sights of the park before heading to the location where the match was to take place.

Either way, once Scorbunny arrived, she stretched and gazed upon the beautiful area before her. Her eyes sparkled as she squealed, "Oh, I just wanna frolic for the next hour!" only for Rillaboom to chuckle, "Too bad you have to fight, eh?"

The rabbit looked down and sighed, "Yeah, you're right," only for Allie to say, "Well, to be fair, we do have a little over an hour until the match starts. It only took ten minutes for the buses to get here."

"Oh, that is a good point, but I might lose track of the time," Scorbunny whimpered, pulling down on her ears, something she had not done since back when she fought for the side of evil, "But I wanna look around this area so much!"

Vaporeon giggled before pursing her lip when everyone stared at her. Up until now, no one had ever heard her giggle. She was quickly able to get everyone to forget about that when she cleared her throat and suggested, "How about we explore together? I'll tell you when you have, like twenty minutes to prepare or something like that."

"You'd do that for me?" Scorbunny squealed with stars in her eyes, the fox nodding and walking over to her before holding her hand and saying, "Of course. Come on, let's go frolic."

And so, the two skipped merrily into the distance while the others stared awkwardly at this. Drizzile blinked and uttered, "Does anyone wanna say it?" Rillaboom and Allie biting their lips while Rolycoly gave Morgrem a stern look and shook his head with his arms folded.

Either way, Hatterene had gone off to prepare for the match herself. Though strangely enough, her arms seemed to have vanished, and this upset her a lot. She breathed heavily and closed her eyes, thinking, 'Come on, don't do this now! Please, arms!'

At that moment, they finally appeared as she breathed a sigh of relief. And she had timed this perfectly for at that very moment, a few people passed by and spotted her. She smiled and bowed her head and asked, "How do you do?"

The citizens waved back and gave a nice greeting before heading on their way before the alien breathed a sigh of relief and thought, 'No one must know about this. I need to keep this up during my match.'

Meanwhile, Scorbunny and Vaporeon looked around the field. Scorbunny just wanted to run around like a kid in a candy store, but she felt as if she should save her energy for the match. When Vaporeon saw how much this ate away at her, she smiled, approached her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, ten minutes won't kill you," she said reassuringly while Scorbunny bit her lower lip. However, she simply could not refuse, thus she immediately started to run around with Vaporeon. Sure, the place was mostly composed of grass as opposed to other forms of plant life, but it was also a wide open space and that was all the rabbit could ask for.

After a while, the two lay on the grass with their arms folded behind their heads and breathed in the fresh air. Vaporeon looked at the clouds and chuckled, "You know, I needed this. These matches have been such a rush. A calm moment was just what the doctor ordered."

"Indeed," Scorbunny replied before enquiring, "How much time do I have, anyway?" the fox looking at the sun while holding her hand above her eyes and saying, "We still have a half hour."

"That's good," the rabbit said before closing her eyes and asking, "Hey, Vaporeon?"

"What is it?" the fox enquired before Scorbunny suggested, "Can you help me with my entrance? I wanna make a really good impression today, you know, just in case I lose."

Vaporeon blinked and thought about this. She then nodded her head and replied, "Yeah, I can do that. Daddy and Mommy used to set up huge entrances. I'm actually planning on a pretty big one myself," rolling over to face Scorbunny, "Tell you what. If you help me with my entrance, I'll help you out with yours."

Scorbunny's eyes sparkled as she squealed, "Deal!" and pounded her fist against Vaporeon's. However, after she did so, she felt something strange in her chest, but what was it?

All the while, Allie and the others had just finished a picnic. Drizzile helped clean up with a smile and said, "You know, I'm really glad we came here for the next couple of matches. There's not too much here, but it's nice and soothing. It actually helps take my mind off of Unown."

Allie nodded and added, "I'm just happy to spend so much quality time with you guys," the chameleon biting his lower lip and sighing, "Allie, when our break comes, I'm gonna help you make some human friends."

"But why?" the girl uttered before the chameleon stated, "Allie, you're an amazing person. You've done so much for me. You've shaped me into the fighter I am today and I at least owe you this much. Besides, anyone would be lucky to be your friend and they need to realize that."

Allie's cheeks were flushed pink while she squeaked, "Wow! Thank you so much! But you really don't have to!" Drizzile sighing, "I know. I'm doing this because I want to."

After a few seconds, Allie broke out into hysterics, Drizzile staring in confusion until she laughed, "I just realized something! You're gonna give me advice on how to make friends!" The chameleon soon realized what she meant and could not help but join in with the laughter. After all, one could not deny the irony of this whole situation.

The next twenty minutes passed until it was finally time for everyone to head to the lake where the match was to take place. But when they arrived, they were all surprised to see that the ring was right in the middle of the lake itself with the bleachers set up in front of it and two walkways leading toward the ring. Shaymin and Tori sat behind a small booth while the hedgehog grinned and said, "Now this is more like it. These are the kinds of locations the Olympics are known for."

Tori nodded and said, "For once, I can't argue. I was starting to wonder when we'd get a spot like this."

Morgrem and Rolycoly sat down first as the goblin stared at the ring and said, "Wow, so it's actually in the lake," the golem nodding and replying, "Makes me even more glad I didn't make it this far. Lord knows I'd drown if I was knocked out of the ring."

The others soon joined them, and while they were surprised by the location, they figured Scorbunny would be fine. After all, she had fought in a volcano before. If she could handle that, she could handle this.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it's now time to begin the second half of round one!" Shaymin squealed, "We've had a pretty damn exciting first half to say the least, but I'm sure this next one will be just as good if not better! Though many of you have probably noticed the location of these next couple of matches!"

She then directed everyone's attention to the ring and added, "As you can see, the ring is in the middle of the lake with deep water surrounding it! And yes, once the fighters enter the ring, those walkways will be removed until the match is over! Because of this, we are going to implement a rule that hasn't been used for quite a while! Basically, if any fighter is knocked out of the ring, it won't count as a ring out, meaning fighters can spend as much time outside of it as they can afford! Although I imagine fighting inside the water wouldn't be so easy for our next few combatants!"

Tori nodded and explained, "There is one exception to the rule, though. If a fighter sinks under the water and starts to drown, we will have our staff rescue her, but of course, that would also count as a true ring-out."

"Don't you mean him or her?" Shaymin enquired only for Tori to shrug and reply, "Well, the next four fighters are all female, so that wouldn't really work."

The hedgehog shrugged her shoulders and pointed to the left, stating, "In the red corner, representing England is a fierce and athletic fighter with amazing spirit! She has truly proven herself worthy of protecting Edmonton and will surely dazzle us all today! Give it up for Scorbunny!"

The crowd was more than ready to cheer until they saw Scorbunny step forward with a Soccer jersey on. She then leapt up just in time for Vaporeon to roll into the area while biting the tip of her tail to make herself resemble a wheel. The rabbit then ran along her like a circus ball and leapt off of her when she was close enough to the ring. Finally, she landed firmly against the canvas and removed her jersey while the crowd went wild.

"What an entrance!" Tori exclaimed, "Not only has Scorbunny shown us that great spirit, but she even got help from another participant!"

"Looking good, Scorbunny!" Morgrem shouted before Rolycoly called, "That was amazing!"

Allie nodded and said, "Yeah, that was much more creative than the other entrances so far," turning to Drizzile and uttering, "No offence," the chameleon shrugging and replying, "No, you're right."

Once the crowd settled down, Shaymin stated, "And in the blue corner, coming to us from Italy is a tall and beautiful warrior! But while she may look delicate, she is anything but! It's actually gone on record that she has never lost a match because of her outstandingly high tolerance to pain! Everyone, give a warm welcome to Hatterene!"

The Italian fans cheered when the alien entered the area and walked toward the ring. She placed her right hand against her side and her leg against her cheek like a super model and headed down the walkway while thrusting her hips back and forth. Scorbunny's friends simply looked at this in silence before Vaporeon joined them in the crowd.

"Hey, guys," the fox said with a light smile before Allie squealed, "That entrance was so cool! Was that your idea!?"

"No, it was Scorbunny's," Vaporeon replied, "But she ultimately needed me to pull it off. My folks used to do that sort of thing all the time before their matches. I feel honoured to have partaken in that."

Hatterene grabbed hold of the ropes when she was close enough and pulled herself over them before landing gracefully against the mat. Afterwards, she breathed a sigh of relief and thought, 'Nailed it.'

Scorbunny noticed that she had quite a bit of nervous sweat, but she figured this must have been due to the fact that she was about to fight in front of a crowd. After all, not everyone was necessarily good at this sort of thing. But regardless, there was no way the rabbit would go easy on her.

And once both were prepared, Shaymin nodded and stated, "And with introductions out of the way, we can begin!" ringing the bell as Scorbunny held her ground and thought, 'Alright, remember what you've learned. Use strategy and common sense but don't over think it.'

Hatterene, on the other hand, simply saw this as an invitation to make the first strike. As such, she immediately raced toward Scorbunny with her arms spread out and tilted like hooks. Needless to say, those who had never seen her fight before were surprised to see someone who looked so formal take such a direct and perhaps even rash approach.

Even so, Scorbunny smirked when she saw this and thought, 'She's making this way too easy,' thus she waited for the alien to come close and leapt to the side. Hatterene's eyes were side with shock while the rabbit pressed her side up against the ropes and bounced off, shouting, "BURNING ROCKET!"

Sure enough, her foot burst into flame before she planted her heel into Hatterene's waist. But just as the British crowd was about to cheer, the alien smirked and covered her arms in a pink energy before she shouted, "PSYCHO WHIP!" and smacked Scorbunny in the face with the arm closest to her.

Scorbunny gasped when this wound up dealing a lot more pain than one would expect from such a thin part of the body, so much so that it left a bruise on her cheek. And it only got worse when Hatterene turned to her and barked, "PSYCHO WHIP BARRAGE!" unleashing a rapid onslaught of fierce slaps.

"Oh my god," Rillaboom uttered, "How are those slaps so effective?" Drizzile replying, "I wonder if it has anything to do with the aura that just appeared."

Allie blinked and noticed it when Hatterene delivered one final strike to Scorbunny's face with both hands and sent her tumbling along the canvas before she hit the ropes. Thankfully, she had enough strength to latch onto them with her arms and stop herself from bouncing off, but either way, she took many deep breaths with terror in her eyes.

"I think you might be right," Allie uttered, "That aura must be giving her some kind of major power boost," Vaporeon replying, "I get the feeling she may be psychic, so that's definitely a possibility."

Scorbunny slowly rose back to her feet and breathed heavily with her eyes wide with terror. The match had not even lasted a minute and yet she already felt weak while one of her strongest attacks had barely done a thing to her opponent. Would this truly be her third loss? Would she not even have a chance at facing either Rillaboom or Vaporeon?

She then frowned and shook her head, thinking, 'Come on, Scorbunny, get it together! Centiskorch was way worse than this!' and thus she struck a fighting pose and grunted, "Not bad, but not good enough!"

Hatterene smirked and thought, 'This is actually easier than I thought it would be. As long as I take her out quickly, everything will be perfect,' before gazing upon the water that surrounded the ring. She knew exactly how to end this quickly.

But of course, Scorbunny would not allow that, thus she decided to go on the offensive this time and race toward Hatterene. Just as the alien was about to strike her again, she frowned and rolled out of the way before she sent a roundhouse into her side. But once again, Hatterene easily overcame the attack and smacked her hard in the cheek, only this time she wrapped her around around the rabbit's waist and lifted her up.

"That's a nice try, but in case you didn't hear the chairwoman earlier, I have an outstandingly high tolerance to pain," she said tauntingly before spinning around and shouting, "WHIRLWIND PITCH!"

The Italian crowd was truly ecstatic when she hurled Scorbunny over the ropes and into the drink, all of her friends staring in horror. Vaporeon especially bit her lower lip and squeaked, "SCORBUNNY, NO!" clinging to the top of the seat in front of her while the one seated there looked at her with irritation on his face.

Allie, Morgrem and Rolycoly were equally concerned until Rillaboom blinked and asked, "What's the big deal? You heard the announcers. That doesn't count as a ring out as long as she doesn't drown, right?"

"Well, yeah, but that only helps if Scorbunny can-" Vaporeon protested before blinking and enquiring, "Wait, can she actually swim?"

Drizzile nodded and replied, "Yeah, she's almost as good as I am," Rolycoly uttering, "Oh yeah, that's right. I have heard that not all fire types are awful swimmers."

However, Hatterene was not aware of this, thus she folded her arms and turned to Shaymin, saying, "Better give me the victory and save her right now. There's no way she's coming back up."

But just as Shaymin and Tori looked at one-another to consider it, Scorbunny rose up from under the water and propelled herself high into the air. She then soared toward Hatterene with her heels out and both feet ablaze, shouting, "BURNING MISSILE!"

"Told you," Rillaboom said with a grin before Morgrem uttered, "Wow, Scorbunny's even cooler than I thought."

Strangely enough, rather than trying to simply dodge the move, Hatterene jumped up and allowed the incoming kick to strike her chest. And much like before, she managed to overcome the pain while she formed a hammer with her ribbon-like arms over her head. Scorbunny eyes widened as she soon took in a blow to the forehead, Hatterene shouting, "PSYCHO MALLET!"

The Italian fans cheered as blood flew out of the very spot that had been struck, Scorbunny coughing up a bit of the liquid. She then fell on her back and stuck out her tongue while her leg twitched, the area completely silent.

"Scorbunny may not have gotten a ring out, but it hardly seems to matter," Shaymin stated, "Hatterene shows us all just how much pain she can take in and knocks the bunny out cold," while Tori started the ten count.

"Come on!" Rillaboom barked, "Get up, Scorbunny!" Morgrem adding, "Yeah, where's that kickass fighter who beat me to a bloody pulp!?" Rolycoly staring at her awkwardly.

Just as Tori reached eight seconds, Vaporeon growled and barked, "COME ON, SCORBUNNY! YOU'RE NOT GONNA LOSE THAT EASILY, ARE YOU!?" And thus the rabbit's eyes widened as she rolled backward and righted herself up. Her eyes were wide with terror while she breathed heavily. She then grinned at her friends and said, "Not on your life."

Hatterene stared silently while her eyes twitched. She had really hoped that would end the match for good, though why she was in such a rush was anyone's guess.

'Alright, I need to think logically,' Scorbunny thought, 'She deliberately took that hit. Yeah, it all makes sense now. This is exactly what happened when I fought Centiskorch. But is her body really as strong as his?'

She examined the torso in question with confusion. After all, Hatterene was slender, so much so that she had an hourglass figure. How could someone this skinny be able to tolerate this much pain?

But before Scorbunny could contemplate this further, Hatterene raced toward her with her arms at the ready and grunted, "Stay down this time!" sending her arms forward only for the rabbit to run forward a small distance. She then knelt down and slid right toward the alien's ankles, thinking, 'This probably won't harm her either. I get the feeling that much like Centiskorch, only her face can be-'

However, it seemed even more complicated. Scorbunny's eyes went wide when rather than getting a minor reaction from Hatterene, she passed right under her. It seemed her kick had caused the alien's dress to fly upward and reveal that she had no legs, and sure enough, the rabbit was not the only one shocked by this.

Not only were her friends and the Japanese citizens surprised, but so were Shaymin and Tori. A look of horror formed on Hatterene's face while she bit her lip, Tori turning to Shaymin and uttering, "Um, did you know about this?" the hedgehog shaking her head and replying, "No. Has she been hovering this whole time?"

Even the Italian crowd could not help but stare in shock as Scorbunny righted herself up and turned to face the alien. Her eyes narrowed while she got a much better look at Hatterene's face. And after a few seconds, she could see what looked like small shoulders tucked under her hair.

At this moment, Scorbunny could see exactly what was going on. While this was a similar case to Centiskorch, it was not exactly the same. Up to this point, she figured her kicks had dealt very little damage, but the truth was that she had not dealt any damage at all, and she knew exactly why.

With that in mind, she took a deep breath and leapt backward into the top rope behind her. She stretched as far back as she could go and lit her foot on fire, the British crowd hoping this would work while Rillaboom uttered, "Is she seriously going to try that again?"

"Yes," Vaporeon replied with a big smile, "I think she just figured out how to win this match," Allie nodding and adding, "Yeah, I see it too. How didn't I notice that?"

Scorbunny launched herself toward Hatterene's face with her heel forward and shouted, "BURNING ROCKET!" only for the alien to fold her arms in front of her face. But as soon as she did so, her eyes widened with terror when the parts in question suddenly vanished.

Now everyone was even more confused, Scorbunny blinking as she had certainly not expected that. But even so, this was certainly convenient, thus a smirk formed before her heel struck Hatterene's face.

The part in question caved in and a large amount of blood spew from her mouth. And when she leaned backward, the audience's confusion grew for her hair and hat had both opened up like a hood. And sure enough, a tiny body with a square shaped pink belly and a bald head flew out and landed against the canvas.

Shaymin and Tori blinked until the human woman weakly started the ten count, not even sure if she could do it with a straight face. Scorbunny's friends were all stunned, but when they saw the Italian fans just as shocked as they were, this only rose more questions. Did they really not know of this?

Once Tori reached ten seconds, she rang the bell and exclaimed, "And Scorbunny has won the match and also revealed something I don't think the world was prepared for!" and as much as the rabbit's supporters wanted to cheer, they were still fixated on Hatterene.

"I knew it," Scorbunny uttered, "I've sort of figured that you're a psychic type fighter, aren't you? And you've been using some sort of psychic energy to give yourself a disguise that makes you look taller."

Hatterene coughed a bit and let down tears, sniffing, "Yes, it's true. Go on, make fun of me. Make fun of the midget pretending to be something she's not."

As much as Scorbunny felt like she had at least earned the right to do so, she knew that would be wrong. Instead, she just stood there with her arms folded while Hatterene grunted, "Well, what are you waiting for!? I can handle it! I've been made fun of for my height all my life! It's the whole reason I dawned that disguise in the first place!"

"You may be small, but you're also a lot stronger than you look," Scorbunny replied, "Those arms you created for yourself are surprisingly powerful. I feel like if you hadn't used them throughout the entire match and only brought them out when you really needed them, they wouldn't have vanished when I attacked you."

"Wow, I'm impressed she caught onto all of that," Rillaboom uttered, "Scorbunny's smart at times, but she's not usually this perceptive," Morgrem blinking and uttering, "Oh yeah, she did use a move on me that weakened her without thinking."

"You're right," Hatterene uttered with her eyes wide open, "If I hadn't been so conscious about my appearance, I probably could have put up a better fight," a light smile on her face, "Either way, Scorbunny, you were a great opponent. I hope you win the tournament. You deserve it. I'm just some nobody who doesn't deserve anything."

Her eyes widened when Scorbunny held her hand out and sighed, "Don't put yourself down like that. Screw the people who got after you for your appearance. You're a lot better than you think you are, and you don't need some disguise to prove it."

Hatterene's eyes sparkled before she took hold of Scorbunny's hand and stood upright. At that moment, the area erupted with cheers and applause, Shaymin releasing tears and sniffing, "I have no idea what just happened, but it was a beautiful!" Tori rolling her eyes and patting her on the shoulder.

The alien shook Scorbunny's hand and said, "Thank you so much. You're right. I don't need some disguise to be awesome, although-" walking over to the costume and using her psychic arms to pry the hair and hat off. She then placed them both atop their head and said, "This part's too stylish for me to just toss out. The rest can go in the trash."

At that moment, a few girls in the crowd stood up before one spat, "I'll take that dress off your hands!" another adding, "No, me! I'll pay you fifty bucks for it!" another retorting, "Fifty!? I'll pay two hundred!"

Hatterene chuckled nervously and uttered, "Maybe I should take that," as Scorbunny shrugged and replied, "Sounds like a good deal to me."

Either way, things had turned out well in the end. Not only had Scorbunny come out on top but it seemed as if Hatterene had a much brighter future now. But of course, there were still three more matches to go until round one was over.


	27. Chapter 27

With Scorbunny's match out of the way, she and Hatterene exited the ring after the walkways were put back up. Both walked toward the bleachers with looks of respect toward one-another. And sure enough, Scorbunny soon took a seat near her friends and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good job," Rillaboom said with a grin before Vaporeon nodded and squealed, "That was really smart thinking on your part! You were already amazing, but I didn't know you could be that smart!"

Scorbunny chuckled and replied, "Well, my mom did help me with that," Morgrem uttering, "If we fought again, I'd go down much more easily. I just know it."

Allie took a deep breath and said, "And just think, you could end up facing either Rillaboom or Vaporeon in the semi-finals," Scorbunny nodding and replying, "Yeah. If there's anyone in this tournament I don't mind losing to, it's you guys."

The next ten minutes went by rather quickly, and once they were up, Shaymin grinned and squealed, "Alright, everyone, it's gonna be hard to top that last match, but I'm sure these next two fighters can truly deliver!"

Tori nodded and stated, "In the red corner, hailing from Mongolia is a dragon that's a lot tougher than she looks! With speed and skills, we give you Flapple!" the Mongolian crowd cheering wildly while the dragon hopped toward the walkway. Since her tail was tucked into the lower portion of her apple-like shell and she had no feet, she could not actually walk normally.

But just as it looked like she would hop all the way to the ring, she spread out the portions of the shell attached to her arms, which were shaped like wings, and launched herself forward and just high enough to soar over the ropes. She then landed perfectly against the mat and bowed her head.

Drizzile blinked and uttered, "Huh, they actually function like wings. I didn't expect that," Allie replying, "I don't think they quite work like that. It looks more like she can give herself a boost with them but not actually fly."

"And in the blue corner-" Shaymin exclaimed, "representing the United States of America is a powerful and swift unicorn like something straight out of a fairytale! Though she may look beautiful, inside is the heart of a killer! Give it up for Rapidight!"

The American fans went wild when Rapidight galloped toward the ring on all fours. She then leapt over the ropes and landed perfectly. Afterwards, she rose up and held her arm hooves above her head with a grin on her face.

The unicorn turned to face her opponent while her mane flipped back and forth, Flapple gazing upon her and uttering, "Wow, you're beautiful."

Rapidight blinked and uttered, "Oh, why, thank you," only for the dragon to smirk and remark, "It'll be such a crying shame when I ruin that lovely face of yours."

The unicorn narrowed her eyelids and grunted, "I'd like to see you try. Believe me, I've had tougher opponents attempt that same thing. I may look delicate and fancy, but I grew up on a barn. I'm as rough and tough as they come."

At that moment, her eyes widened when Ben whistled to her and exclaimed, "Yeah, you tell her, Rapidight! Show em that Texas spirit!" Rapidight blushing lightly and chuckling, "Don't you worry your pretty little head, Ben! I'll make sure this snake doesn't know what hit her!"

Flapple frowned and thought, 'We'll see who the snake is when this is over,' Incineroar all the while turning to Ben and asking, "You know her?"

"Oh yeah, back when we lived at our old homes, she lived across the pasture from me," Ben replied, "My family's real good friends with hers. We still keep in touch every now and then."

Morgrem could just barely make this out since her ears were long enough, thus she sighed, "Oh, damn. I was just about to cheer for Flapple out of spite," Rolycoly staring in confusion before he suddenly remembered that Rapidight was the one who eliminated Grimmsnarl from the race. Though since he had not heard what Ben and his friends had said, he could not help but wonder why she had changed her mind.

Whatever the case, both fighters were ready, thus Shaymin nodded and squealed, "Well, folks, without further ado, let's get this underway!" and rang the bell.

Rapidight wasted no time and raced toward Flapple. Once close enough, she sent a barrage of high kicks toward her face. However, the dragon was ready for this and easily blocked them with the shell fragment on her arm.

Unfortunately for her, Rapidight had seen this coming. As such, she smirked after delivering a few kicks and lowered her leg, ramming her hoof hard into Flapple's gut. The dragon grunted from the pain and lowered her guard, thus the unicorn leapt up and sent a roundhouse into her cheek.

The American crowd went wild while Flapple backed up and rubbed the spot that had just been hit. And she would certainly need to think fast when she noticed Rapidight charge toward her on all fours. However, she also knew it might be too early to use her horn, thus she leapt up into the air and shouted, "FLYING CENTAUR!" sending a barrage of rapid kicks with all four hooves into Flapple's forehead, shoulders and chest.

Ben grinned and exclaimed, "Yeah! Way to go, Rapidight!" the unicorn's cheeks flushed pink while she rose up again and sent a barrage of high kicks into the dragon's sides.

Flapple gritted her teeth and attempted to block her kicks, but once again, Rapidight saw right through her strategy and leapt up into the air, wrapping her legs around the dragon's shoulders. She then leaned backward, placed her arm hooves against the mat and lifted Flapple up. And sure enough, it was not long until the back of Flapple's neck hit the canvas hard after Rapidight flipped her over with a frankensteiner.

The American crowd could not have been more ecstatic as Scorbunny uttered, "Wow. She's good," Vaporeon nodding and replying, "Not only is she tough, but she's using good strategy. She knew Flapple would block those first few kicks, so she simply allowed her to pull it off in order to give her a false sense of security."

Flapple growled and pushed herself up while the Mongolians could not help but look at her with concern. She then spread out her arms and launched herself toward Rapidight, grunting, "If you're gonna go on the offensive, so will I!"

However, the unicorn easily saw this coming and turned her back to Flapple. She then knelt down on all fours and lifted up her legs, sending her feet toward the dragon's chin. But just as it seemed like she would never take in so much as one hit during this match, Flapple smirked and shouted, "APPLEPULT!"

Many members of the crowd stared in shock when she suddenly tucked her body into her shell thus taking on the shape of an apple. The only thing the audience could see outside of it were her eyes, but this hardly mattered as Rapidight's hooves hit that instead.

The unicorn's eyes widened when not only did her kick deal no damage whatsoever, but her legs started to push and bend inward. This caused her quite a bit of pain, and it did not end there when Flapple opened her shell just long enough to close it in on Rapidight's ankles, binding them in place.

The Mongolian fans cheered while Shaymin stated, "Just as it seemed like this match was in the bag, Rapidight is now trapped as Flapple uses her egg shell like a mouth to bite into her!"

Things got worse when the dragon did something even more unexpected and somehow twisted her eyes in a spiral formation. As if it was not weird enough that she could pull this off in the first place, somehow, this caused her eyes no pain whatsoever. And even the Mongolian fans looked slightly disturbed by this.

"Wait, have they never seen her do this?" Rillaboom uttered as Morgrem groaned, "I can see why she wouldn't reveal that until now. That's just creepy."

Once Flapple's eyes were completely twisted, she released them and caused them to spin like a helicopter propeller. This allowed her to lift Rapidight into the air before descending toward the mat and shouting, "APPLE BOMB!"

The unicorn's back hit the canvas hard as she groaned in pain, Flapple retracting from her shell and using her arm fragments to boost herself into the air. She then tucked herself into the shell one more time and yelled, "EINSTEIN'S APPLE!"

While falling, though, she once against twisted her eyes up, only this time she did so in the opposite direction. As such, she when released them and allowed them to spin again, the wind current travelling upward and allowing her to drop faster. Thus she landed against Rapidight's gut three times harder, the unicorn's eyes wide while she coughed up blood.

The Mongolians all continued to cheer while Flapple retracted from her shell once again and leapt off of Rapidight. She then folded her arms and snickered, "Bet you didn't expect that, did you? I've been saving this ability for someone truly worthy, and I could tell my usual tactics couldn't possibly work on someone like you."

Tori blinked and turned to Shaymin, asking, "Did you know she could do this?" the hedgehog replying, "Nope. It's just as she said. This is the first time she's ever used this ability. Up until now, no one even knew she could tuck herself into her shell like that, let alone use her eyes like a propeller."

Incineroar frowned and grunted, "I hate to say it, Ben, but it's not looking good," the boy folding his arms and replying, "Yeah, but I know Rapidight can get around this. Back home, she used to peel, bake and eat apples all the time. This is nothing for her."

Wurmple blinked and uttered, "Well, if you say so," thinking, 'You do know Flapple's not an actual apple, right?'

Rapidight rose to her feet and breathed heavily, her eyes wide open with terror. She simply could not believe it. Flapple had managed to weaken her greatly from just that one strike. However, there was no way she would give up.

As such, she galloped toward Flapple again only for the dragon to smirk and say, "Try all you like, but I'm not afraid of you anymore," thus she boosted herself into the air just as Rapidight closed in.

Luckily, the unicorn had seen this coming, thus she leapt up to the dragon's level and reeled her leg back. But just as she aimed a roundhouse toward Flapple's side, the dragon easily blocked it with her arm shell and grabbed hold of her leg.

Rapidight smirked and said, "I thought you might do that," before aiming a kick at Flapple's midsection. But the dragon saw this coming and once again tucked herself into her shell, once again clamping down on the unicorn's ankle.

The American fans all winced when they saw blood squirt out this time. And just like before, the dragon twisted her eyes and spun them while a gust of wind pushed her and Rapidight downward, the unicorn's back hitting the canvas hard while Flapple exclaimed, "APPLE BOMB!"

After she released Rapidight, Flapple retracted out of her shell and laughed, "Not so tough now, are you!? When I'm in my apple state, I'm pretty much invincible! Face it, you can't win! All you can do is give up or let me defeat you!"

Rapidight rose to her feet and growled angrily while Vaporeon whimpered, "My god, I hate to say it, but Flapple might be right," Scorbunny frowning and grunting, "Well, if she does win, I'll find a way around that cheap ass defence, you can count on it."

However, at this moment, Rapidight narrowed her eyelids and barked, "This isn't over!" pushing herself up toward Flapple with her feet out. The dragon smirked and hid inside her shell once more only for the unicorn's hooves to strike her eyes instead, the crowd gasping while even Ben could not help but wince.

However, just as it seemed like Rapidight had finally found a weak spot, her eyes went wide with terror when Flapple suddenly wrapped said parts around her ankles and used them to hurl her into the turnbuckle. Everyone in the area stared while Tori uttered, "Flapple keeps finding new ways to surprise us. It seemed those disturbingly long eyes of hers are indestructible," Shaymin adding, "That might be a good thing for Rapidight, though, considering if that kick had hurt her, we would have had to issue her a warning. After all, striking the eyes is against tournament rules."

Now even the Mongolian crowd was disturbed as Morgrem uttered, "Oh my god. She's invincible. I don't think anyone can get around that kind of defence."

"I hate to say it, but you might be right," Rillaboom groaned, "And I get the feeling even you might not be able to find a way around that kind of defence," turning to Scorbunny who could not help but tense up. Her confidence had truly left her and now she could not help but wish Rapidight could find a way around this.

But as painful as it was for the unicorn to admit, her fighting spirit had been shattered. She lay weakly against the pole and thought, 'I can't possibly win. This defence of hers, it has no weakness to speak of. How did she go so long without once relying on it? Seriously, she wouldn't have even taken all those hits if she had just done this sooner.'

The unicorn then looked to the sky while her mind added, 'I bet she did that just to build up my expectations and shatter them,' Flapple about ready to deliver the final blow only for Ben to get up from his seat and bark, "HEY, RAPIDIGHT!"

Rapidight blinked and turned toward him before he spat, "What in the blue blazes are you doing!? If there's one thing I know about you, it's that you're not a quitter! I'm sure you can find a way around this! In fact, I know you can!"

While Rapidight's eyes widened, Flapple folded her arms and laughed, "I admire your loyalty to your friend, but come on! No one can beat me in this state! That champion title is pretty much guaranteed!"

Unfortunately for the dragon, Rapidight no longer saw it that way. In fact, she knew exactly how she was going to win this match. Thus she pushed herself away from the turnbuckle and went down on all fours. She took a deep breath and counted with her right arm hoof, Flapple rolling her eyes and preparing herself for the worst.

Rapidight sprinted toward Flapple with her horn pointed out. A pink and violet energy swirled around it while the dragon smirked and started to tuck herself into her shell again. When the unicorn saw that, she picked up and the pace and yelled, "MYSTICAL JAB!" her horn just close enough to be lodged into the shell when it closed.

All went silent among the crowd while everyone could not help but wonder if the horn had struck Flapple. Unfortunately, it seemed that was not the case when the dragon giggled. And that giggle soon grew into heavy laughter before she exclaimed, "Wow, what a waste! You went to all that trouble for nothing!"

Rapidight's horn was close to stabbing Flapple, but it was not quite there. However, while the American crowd looked disappointed, the unicorn smirked and said, "That's fine. I wasn't really planning on hitting your body anyway."

Everyone was now beyond confused as Flapple uttered, "What?" panic filling her veins when Rapidight remained on all fours and galloped toward the ropes with her horn still inside the shell. Before the dragon could even try to respond, the unicorn jumped over the top rope and shouted, "PONYVAULT DIVE!"

The crowd and announcers both stared in stunned silence when Rapidight tilted her body downward and dove right into the lake with Flapple still stuck to her. It was at that moment that the dragon finally opened up her shell, her eyes wide with terror while she flapped her arms. However, it was at that moment she suddenly remembered that she could not swim, thus she started to sink like a hammer while Rapidight swam back to the water's surface.

Ben bit his lower lip and uttered, "That was a lot crazier than what I thought she'd do. I hope she's okay," Incineroar enquiring, "Is she not a good swimmer?"

"Oh no," the boy replied, "She's a fine swimmer. It's just, well, she's underwater with her opponent. Who's to say she was able to get away?"

Ultimately, his mind was put to rest when Rapidight's head rose up from under the surface. She spat out a bit of water and breathed heavily while the Americans and Mongolians all stared in stunned silence. And when she swam back to the ring and climbed into it, Shaymin gasped, "Now I understand what Rapidight was doing! She took a big risk, but it seems as if she may have left her opponent to drown! But we'll have to wait and see!"

The staff was nearby and ready to dive in if needed. And sure enough, after a while, bubbles stopped rising from where Flapple was. As such, they all dove in while everyone watched in silence. After roughly ten seconds, the rescue team rose up from under the water's surface with Flapple in their arms and started to swim her back to shore.

Tori watched this and nodded before she rang the bell and exclaimed, "Well, folks, that's that! It was tough, but in the end, Rapidight has come out on top and will advance to round two!"

The American crowd went wild while Rapidight took many deep breaths and smiled lightly. Deep down, she wished she could have won in a more honourable fashion, but she came out on top. And of course, Ben could not help but whistle for her and cheer louder than everyone else while a blush formed on her cheeks.

"Damn," Rolycoly uttered, "Scorbunny, you've got your work cut out for you," the rabbit nodded and replying, "Yeah, but I'll be ready for her when the time comes."

"I don't doubt that for a second," Vaporeon replied, the others equally confident. But just as Rapidight started down the walkway back to shore, she looked at Flapple to make sure she was okay. After all, while she had technically won by ring out, she also had the drown her opponent in order to pull it off.

Luckily, it seemed she was okay when a staff member pushed down on her chest and all the water she had consumed flew out of her mouth. The unicorn breathed a sigh of relief and resumed her trip back to dry land while Ben got up from his seat and ran down the bleachers.

Once he reached the bottom, Rapidight's eyes widened when he held her in a tight embrace. He then patted her on the back and exclaimed, "I knew you could do it!" the unicorn chuckling, "Yeah," before sighing, "Thanks for the encouragement. I couldn't have done that without you."

"I'm sure you could have," Ben replied, "Now, come on. I'd like you to meet the others," Rapidight nodding and heading toward the bleachers with him.

"And on that note, we only have two matches to go!" Shaymin squealed, "Our final location for the day shall be Foote Field! You'd better hurry!"

Rillaboom grinned and said, "Finally, it's time for my match," before heading off along with the others, Allie, saying, "You'll win for sure."

Vaporeon tensed up when she noticed Melmetal gazing at her. After all, their match was the last one. But deep down, she knew she could defeat him.


	28. Chapter 28

It took much shorter for everyone to relocate to Foote Field than all the other locations, and this was fine by them. After all, Rillaboom wanted as much time as possible to prepare for her match. While her opponent certainly did not look all that threatening, she had seen what the other contestants had been capable of and knew better.

The others offered to help the gorilla prepare for her match before she stroked her chin and thought about it. But just as she was about to decline their offer, she stopped and asked Drizzile and Scorbunny to join her, both more than happy to help.

After they headed into a nearby changing room, Morgrem folded her arms and grumbled, "I could have helped her train," Rolycoly nodding and replying, "Yeah, not to mention I came pretty close to beating her."

Allie let out a sigh and said, "Come on, let's leave them be. I'm sure she has her reasons," Vaporeon adding, "Not to mention those two are her best friends. I'm sure their connection has something to do with that choice."

With that in mind, all four headed off toward the bleachers. Sure, they knew they would have to wait for forty five minutes until the match started, but unlike Hawrelak Park, there really was no reason to hang around.

All the while, Scorbunny grinned and asked, "So, what sort of exercises do you want us to help you with?" Drizzile adding, "I'm up for anything. Lord knows I can actually handle it now."

Rillaboom chuckled and replied, "Sorry, guys, but I don't actually need you to help me train for my match. I need you for something else."

Both looked at her with curiosity until she explained, "I'm sure you've all seen it so far. Many of the heroes have given audiences really amazing entrances. Scorbunny, yours was easily the best one," the rabbit grinning and replying, "Thank you."

"Anyway," Rillaboom continued, "I was hoping you guys could help me with my own entrance. My parents will be in the audience and I really wanna dazzle them and the rest of the crowd. Do you think you could pull that off?"

"Is that all?" Drizzile enquired, "Well, we'd be happy to help," Scorbunny nodding until the chameleon looked around and uttered, "But what exactly did you have in mind?"

Rillaboom had them both approach her before resting her hands on their shoulders and stated, "Well, I'm sure you all remember the move we beat Obstagoon with, right?"

Both of them stared at her briefly before a big grin formed on Scorbunny's face. Drizzile was a touch sceptical but ultimately figured this could make for a very good entrance, especially now that he could handle it a lot better than before. As such, a light smile formed and he nodded in agreement.

Forty minutes passed and sure enough, just as Rillaboom had predicted, Thwackey and Obasi were among the crowd, though they were seated in the middle. They figured if they sat closer to the front, they could wind up putting a little too much pressure on their daughter and they did not wish to do that.

But even so, they were more than prepared to cheer for her as were Rillaboom's friends. Morgrem had even made herself a banner that said 'Go, Rillaboom, go' Rolycoly having painted a background image of a forest with smiling bananas. Allie looked at this and said, "Wow, this is really good."

The golem blinked and uttered, "Really?" his cheeks pink while the girl nodded and replied, "Yeah. If you ever retire from heroism, you should become an artist."

Morgrem grinned and said, "Well, well, the girl's got taste," as Vaporeon chuckled, "I really can't argue with that. Where did you learn to paint like that?"

The golem tapped his chin, nodded and replied, "After I ran away from the abusive orphanage I was placed in, I hung out a lot in areas where artists did their work. I just kinda followed their example and started doing it myself. After I met Morgrem, I felt like I had no reason to use these skills anymore. It's nice getting a chance to do this again."

The goblin gave him sad puppy eyes until he sighed, "Don't worry, it's not your fault I stopped."

Before they could continue the conversation, Shaymin raced behind a desk and squealed, "Ladies and gentlemen, it's finally time to begin the last two matches for the day! It's been amazing so far, but let's just see how much better it can get!"

Tori nodded and stated, "In the red corner, coming to us from Kenya is a simian who is just as smart in combat as she is strong! So far the only hero of Edmonton yet to lose a single match, at least after becoming a hero, she comes to us just as fierce as ever! Everyone, give a round to applause for Rillaboom!"

The Canadian and African fans were more than prepared to cheer. However, their eyes lit up when they saw a green, blue and orange wheel roll toward the ring. And once it was close enough, Rillaboom flew out of it after Drizzile and Scorbunny tossed her upward at an angle. She then performed a handstand on the top rope and flipped off of it with a grin on her face while the cheers got louder.

Vaporeon stared and uttered, "Wow, that's the best entrance I've seen yet," Morgrem and Rolycoly exclaiming, "So cool!"

The Edmontonians were especially thrilled to see this. After all, they recognized that wheel and could not have been more excited to see it in action again, even if it was just for an entrance. Even some of the Swiss fans had to admit that this was an impressive display.

"Looking good, honey!" Thwackey shouted with a big grin on her face, "I'm so proud of you!" Obasi clapping harder than everyone else.

Rillaboom smiled sweetly at her parents and thought, 'I'll win this for you guys. You helped me master my grass powers. It would be a terrible waste to lose the first round.'

Once the crowd had calmed down, Shaymin cleared her throat and squealed, "In the blue corner, hailing from Switzerland is someone who may look adorable on the outside but is actually quite a force to be reckoned with on the inside! She has grown herself quite an impressive coat along with a very good reputation! Give it up for Wooloo!"

The Swiss fans cheered wildly while what appeared to be a giant cotton ball rolled into the area. Once it got close to the ring, it bounced up into the air and landed firmly against the mat, arms, legs, horns and a face emerging from it. The sheep waved her braids back and forth and winked at the crowd before she squealed, "It means so much that you'd all come here to see me!"

The fans cheered louder while a little girl cried, "We love you, Wooloo!" a boy adding, "Kick that ape's butt!"

Rillaboom blinked but shrugged her shoulders. After all, it only made sense that those from Switzerland would show a little bit of bias. What mattered was that she come out on top, and she knew she could do it. And as long as she had the support of her friends and family, she was fine.

As such, she prepared herself before Shaymin nodded and said, "Well, folks, the combatants are set. Let the second-last match of round one begin!" and rang the bell.

Wooloo immediately tucked her arms and feet into her wool and rolled toward Rillaboom, shouting, "COTTON BOULDER!" the gorilla more than prepared for this. Thus when the sheep closed in on her, she immediately sent a punch into her.

However, just as it seemed like she would get an early lead, her eyes widened when the fist bounced off of the wool and struck her in the face. And things only got worse for her when Wooloo rolled right into her and caused her to fly back into the ropes.

The Swiss fans cheered wildly while Shaymin stated, "And Wooloo gets an early lead by showing us just how tough her wool is! As it so happens, this move has basically won her every single match up to this point! She might just have what it takes to win the whole tournament!"

Vaporeon let out a sigh and groaned, "Oh my god, so it's just like Flapple's shell," Morgrem groaning, "Come on, that was painful enough to watch! How many more of these seemingly invincible fighters are there!?"

Rillaboom frowned and waited for Wooloo to close in on her before she leapt to the side. However, while the sheep did roll into the ropes, she managed to shift sideways just in time to avoid bouncing off. And unfortunately, the gorilla was not fast enough to outrun her and thus took in another strike.

"Come on, honey!" Thwackey cried, "You can do it!" Scorbunny turning and uttering, "Oh, right, Rillaboom said they'd be here to watch this. I hope she can turn this around."

It seemed Rillaboom thought the same thing. As such, she planted her feet firmly against the ground and prevented herself from flying into the ropes again. She then took a deep breath and had her leaves spin and turn into barrels.

'If my fists can't blast through that wool, then perhaps I can pierce through them,' she thought while she formed thorns around her barrel bracelets. She then waited for Wooloo to get close again and latched onto her, the thorns now lodged into the wool.

Her eyes widened when this ultimately had no effect. Thus Wooloo stopped rolling and smirked, saying, "Nice try, but my body is really thin compared to my wool. In other words, you'll need something much longer than mere thorns to get to my skin."

Rillaboom's eyes widened when the sheep leapt into the air and spun vertically, shouting, "COTTON METEOR!" descending with the gorilla's back aimed at the canvas.

Sure enough, Rillaboom hit the surface hard and grunted in pain before Wooloo pushed herself off of her and grinned with pride. The Swiss crowd went wild as she winked to the crowd and exclaimed, "Thank you all so much for your support! It means the world to me!"

"And sure enough, Wooloo proves herself so much better than she looks!" Shaymin stated, "Who knew wool could be so strong!?"

Morgrem pulled down on her ears and groaned, "This is painful!" Rolycoly taking a deep breath and replying, "I'm not too worried. I mean, you saw how much punishment she took from me and she still won in the end. I'm sure it'll happen."

Scorbunny nodded and said, "Yeah. If anyone can figure out the weakness to Wooloo's boulder technique, it's her."

All the while, the African fans watched with concern, Obasi turning to Thwackey and groaning, "I hate to say it, but Rillaboom might not be able to win this match. That wool is surprisingly powerful," the monkey nodding and replying, "You're right, it is. But there is a glaring weakness to it. I just hope Rillaboom can figure it out."

When Rillaboom rose to her feet, she took many deep breaths and thought, 'No, nothing is truly flawless. If Rapidight could find a way around Flapple's defences, I can find a way to hurt her easily. I just need to think about this. After all, it's just like Tori said. I've always been able to come up with good strategies when it really counts.'

Wooloo turned to face her and sighed, "I guess I should have known that wouldn't be enough to finish you off. But that's good. It means I get to have fun a little longer."

Rillaboom frowned when the sheep once again tucked her arms and legs into her wool and rolled toward her. And it was at that moment that the gorilla finally saw it, her eyes wide with shock. Just like Thwackey said, there was indeed a glaring flaw in this move, one so obvious that she could not help but feel embarrassed by how long it had taken her to spot it.

As such, she watched Wooloo closely and noticed a pattern. And once the sheep was close enough, Rillaboom formed a hammerhead around her right fist and barked, "WOOD HAMMER JAB!" sending it forward just in time for it to make contact with the sheep's face.

Wooloo's snout caved in before she squeaked in pain and bounced away from Rillaboom. She then reverted to normal and cried, "OH MY GOD, MY NOSE!" holding onto it with light tears in her eyes, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY POOR LITTLE NOSE!?"

Rillaboom smirked and retorted, "Easy! I figured out a way to defeat that 'flawless' move of yours!" the African crowd cheering while Thwackey folded her arms and nodded her head in approval.

Rolycoly grinned and said, "I knew it," Vaporeon uttering, "Wow, now I feel ashamed of myself for not noticing that."

Just as it seemed like Wooloo had already lost her confidence, a Swiss teenaged girl exclaimed, "Come on, Wooloo! You're not gonna let a little thing like that stop you, are you!?" the others cheering for her. As such, she grinned and squealed, "Of course not! I'd go to the ends of the Earth for all of you!"

Her eyelids then slanted downward to form a more wicked look while she thought, 'Besides, it's not like that's the only move in my arsenal. I've never had a reason to use the others until now, but you just gave me a reason, Rillaboom. I guess I should thank you for that.'

With that in mind, she raced toward the gorilla and tilted her head down, shouting, "SHEEP BATTERING RAM!" the crowd truly shocked when the tiny horns on her head grew in length and curved upward, just like those of a ram.

Rillaboom frowned and stood her ground with her hands out. Then once Wooloo was close enough, she took hold of her horns and grunted, "As if I'd let you hit me with that!" ramming her knee hard into the sheep's face.

Unfortunately, though, it seemed as if Wooloo wanted her to do this. As such, she smirked before Rillaboom could retract her knee and exclaimed, "BATTLING BRAIDS!" her braids spinning like buzz saws and striking the part that had hit her repeatedly.

While this only left a bruise at first, Rillaboom let out a cry of agony when the braids had somehow managed to slash the sides of her leg open. Thus she backed up and released her hold on Wooloo before both horns were planted into her gut.

"Rillaboom!" her friends spat with terror in their expression. Wooloo grinned and continued to charge forward until Rillaboom's back rammed into the turnbuckle and she coughed up blood for the first time in the match.

"While Rillaboom may have defeated Wooloo's strongest move, this match is far from over," Shaymin stated, "Since Wooloo can no longer rely on her Cotton Ball Boulder, she has now shown off two moves that have never been seen from her until now. It makes me wonder what else she has in store."

Wooloo surprised the audience even more when she spread out her horns and shifted the tips under Rillaboom's shoulders. She once again tucked her feet into her wool and bounced above the ring before leaning backwards and shouting, "RAM SUPLEX!"

Sure enough, the back of the gorilla's head hit the canvas hard as she coughed up more blood. And when Wooloo removed her horns, she grinned while Rillaboom collapsed and lay there, Tori starting the ten count.

"HONEY, NO!" Thwackey cried out with terror in her expression, Obasi just as frightened as she was. While they knew their daughter was tough, could she possibly recover from a beat down like that?

Drizzile bit his lower lip and whimpered, "That can't possibly be it, can it? She has to make it passed the first round," Scorbunny nodding and grunting, "Come on, Rillaboom! Get up!"

She then pumped her fist in the air and chanted, "Rillaboom! Rillaboom!" Drizzile doing the same. And sure enough, all of the others joined in.

Thwackey grinned and chanted her name as well along with Obasi. It was not long until the rest of the African fans joined in. And just as Tori was a millisecond away from nine, Rillaboom's eyes widened before she flipped back onto her feet and panted heavily.

Wooloo turned to face her with her eyes wide open. She knew Rillaboom was tough, but she figured for sure that her last move would end the match for sure.

The gorilla could see this in her expression, thus she smirked and asked, "Did you really think that would take me down? I fought a dinosaur and lived through it! If that was the best you had, this match is mine!"

Wooloo's shock left her as she lowered her eyelids and sighed, "Who are you trying to fool? You may have dealt a couple of good hits to me, but you're in far worse condition than I am. This match is as good as mine."

With that in mind, she once again extended her horns, only this time she did not curve them. As such, she charged toward the gorilla with the tips aimed at her shoulders and shouted, "RAM SKEWER!"

Rillaboom narrowed her eyelids and lifted her arms up just in time for the horns to miss her. She once again formed her hammerheads around her fists and barked, "WOOD HAMMER!" ramming them both into Wooloo's skull.

The crowd cheered wildly while Shaymin squealed, "Things have been looking bad for Rillaboom throughout this match, but it seems like she's finally gotten the upper hand for good!" Drizzile and Scorbunny both shouting, "Yeah! Way to go, Rillaboom!"

Rillaboom noticed Wooloo's horns had not retracted to their normal size. As such, she quickly returned her hands to normal and took hold of them before lifting the sheep over her head and leaping high above the ring. All the while, she thought, 'This match has gone on long enough. It's time to end it.'

Once she had jumped as high as she could, she leaned backward when suddenly, something even more unexpected happened. Thwackey's eyes went wide when the vine-like lock of hair that always hung in front of the gorilla's face extended and wrapped itself around Wooloo's neck. But as unexpected as it was, Rillaboom could tell this would only make her move more effective.

As such, she smirked and shouted, "VINE CHOKESLAM!" the back of Wooloo's head hitting the canvas hard as blood escaped from her mouth.

All went silent among the crowd until Allie uttered, "Has she always been able to do that?" Drizzile shaking his head and replying, "No. I always thought that was just hair that happened to look like a vine," Scorbunny adding, "It's like that wood power of hers. We've never seen that before."

Either way, Wooloo looked stunned after Rillaboom released her. She lay on the mat and Tori started the ten count while the Swiss fans all stared in shock. Was this really it?

Once Tori reached ten seconds, she rang the bell and exclaimed, "After a very close match, Rillaboom has come out on top, therefor she will advance to round two!"

After this all sank in, the area erupted with cheers and applause from all but the Swiss crowd. Thwackey grinned wide and clapped her hands above her head, screeching, "WAY TO GO, SWEETIE! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!"

The others gave her supportive smiles while Rolycoly sighed, "It was just like I said. I knew there was no way she would lose," Morgrem patting him on the back and replying, "Yep, you called it."

And with that, Rillaboom was about to exit the ring only for Wooloo to cough up one last little bit of blood with her eyes wide open with shock. She then tilted her head back to face the gorilla and uttered, "You're incredible. Not only did you find out how to defeat my Cotton Ball Boulder, but you actually won the match."

The gorilla stared in confusion as she beamed bright and said, "Good luck in round two," closing her eyes. Just her words were enough for the Swiss fans to give Rillaboom a light clap as she smiled. Though much like Drizzile, she knew she would need to have a word with her mother after the round was over. She had to know how she had grown her vine like that.

Although right now, she needed to be ready to support Vaporeon. As such, she headed toward the bleachers and grinned before receiving a high five from both Scorbunny and Drizzile.

"Good job," the rabbit said with a grin before Rillaboom sighed, "Thanks," nodding at Vaporeon who got up from her seat and patted the gorilla on the shoulder.

"I look forward to facing you in round two," the fox said with a confident smile, "Who knows? Maybe I'll be the second one to best you in combat," only for the gorilla to chuckle, "We'll see about that."

And so Vaporeon headed off to prepare herself while Melmetal got up from his own seat and headed off. He turned to face her and implied a sweet smile with his eye, though for some reason, she could not help but tense up as soon as she saw that. But why? If anything, the cyborg seemed like a good sport, so why did he intimidate her so much?


	29. Chapter 29

So far, the Hero Olympics tournament had been very intense and full of close calls, but now it was finally time for Vaporeon's match with Melmetal. While the fox was sure she would win, something about the cyborg rubbed her the wrong way, but she could not put her finger on it. After all, he seemed far more reasonable than many of the other contestants.

Either way, she took a deep breath and thought, 'Watch me, Mommy and Daddy. I'll show you just how great I really am,' her eyes wide when she heard a familiar voice ask, "So, what kind of entrance were you thinking of?"

Vaporeon turned and blinked when she saw Scorbunny right there. She then gasped, "Oh, that's right! You agreed to help me with my entrance!" before chuckling, "You don't really have to do it, though. I know we made a deal and all, but-"

"It's fine," Scorbunny replied with a sweet smile, "I wanna help you out with this," Vaporeon about to question this further. But when she saw the sincerity in the rabbit's eyes, she took a deep breath and beamed bright. After all, this was her big chance to finally make a grand entrance before a match.

All the while, Melmetal was hard at work. He had asked the staff to bring him a whole bunch of metal parts before he spun his big hexagonal nuts like saw blades and scraped them against the material. This allowed him to not only set up his entrance but also improve his strength, a serious look in his eye as he thought, 'This couldn't be more perfect. I might actually get to take down all of Edmonton's heroes. I've already dealt with two of them. If I can beat the other four, that will work even more in my favour.'

Once ten minutes were up, Shaymin grinned and squealed, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I hope you're all ready for the final match of round one! I know I certainly am!" Tori adding, "This one's probably been the most anticipated so far as this one involves the first hero stationed here in Edmonton! I can't wait to see how this plays out!"

And she was not just saying that like Shaymin likely was. After all, she had been there to witness Vaporeon's first victory on Earth. She was already happy that the other heroes had advanced to round two, but deep down, she had been a fan of Vaporeon from the start and saw her losses to Obstagoon and Furfrou as mere flukes.

Back in Bangkok, Eevee was glued to the TV as she yelled, "Come on, Popplio, hurry!" the seal entering the room with two plates of homemade Fish Pad Thai in his flippers while he rolled his eyes and chuckled. He then placed the brown fox's plate on her lap, thus she squealed, "Aw, thank you so much, darling!" kissing him on the cheek.

Of course, Incineroar, Ben and Wurmple were all ready to cheer for their friend with Yanma far in the back row. She gazed intently at the ring and thought, 'I know you can do it, Vaporeon. You were awesome in our match and I just know you can kick Melmetal's butt.'

But most of all, Drizzile, Rillaboom and the others were more than ready to cheer for their friend. Rolycoly had created another banner for the fox in advance, everyone once again impressed by just how amazing it was.

"In the red corner, all the way from Thailand is a ferocious fox with impeccable skills!" Tori exclaimed, She has thwarted two major threats to Edmonton's safety and has worked her way to the finals with her father's skills! The niece of the thirtieth Olympic champion, Vaporeon!"

The crowd watched in amazement when Vaporeon entered the area on a small float with flames shooting up from sides. All the while, Scorbunny held up a boombox and a microphone and played an upbeat melody. Once the fox was halfway toward the ring, she curled her tail and launched herself high into the air, twirling before landing perfectly against the surface with her arms spread out and a grin on her face.

The crowd was truly ecstatic while Rillaboom stared wide-eyed and uttered, "Where did she get a float from?" Allie replying, "From what I can gather, this sort of thing used to be super common for entrances. Not sure why so few heroes use them now."

Vaporeon turned toward the entrance and winked at Scorbunny who gave her a thumb up. She then turned off the boombox and headed toward the bleachers while Tori resisted the urge to applaud the fox. After all, it was her job as an announcer to be neutral.

Once the crowd calmed down, Shaymin had a wide grin and squealed, "That was the most awesome entrance so far! I almost wish I didn't have to announce the next one," Tori nodding before saying, "Nevertheless, we have a job to do."

With that in mind, the hedgehog stated, "In the red corner is a cybernetic warrior all the way from Russia! Just from the sporting events alone, he has proven himself quite the force to be reckoned with, but he has also been shown to be a rather good sport if I say so myself. With power and skill, everyone welcome Melmetal!"

The Russian crowd cheered when the cyborg entered the area, though everyone else was unsure how to react to his entrance. While he also headed toward the ring on a float, it barely qualified as one. It was simply made up of broken metal parts with wheels that seemed unnecessarily big. However, it seemed he had more in mind when he stepped backward onto a loose sheet of metal hanging off the back and launched himself off of it like a catapult. He then flipped vertically with his arms and legs tucked in and landed firmly against the ring with his arms out.

This got a few more members of the audience interested as they clapped for him, but this did not change the fact that Vaporeon was still the fan favourite. Much like Drizzile, Scorbunny and Rillaboom, she was one of Edmonton's heroes, so of course everyone living there wanted to see her win and the Thai crowd was slightly bigger than the Russian crowd.

However, everyone's respect for him rose even more when he approached Vaporeon and held his hand out, saying, "Here's to a good match," the fox blinking and shaking it, a nervous smile on her face.

As if she had not been intimidated by him enough, she could not help but shiver briefly when he gazed deep into her eyes and added, "I've been looking forward to this," releasing her hand and heading to his side of the ring.

"What an incredible display of sportsmanship!" Shaymin squealed, "Just as we thought, Melmetal is quite the role model! We could all learn a thing or two from him!" Tori uttering, "Yeah, we sure could," staring at the hedgehog with her eyelids lowered.

However, Rillaboom had seen Vaporeon's reaction as she uttered, "Did anyone else just see that?" Scorbunny nodding and replying, "Yeah. I've never seen her this nervous before a match."

Rolycoly blinked and uttered, "Now that you mention it, she did look a little tense," before Morgrem scratched her head and said, "He doesn't seem like that bad of a guy. Still, he is the one responsible for us losing the race, so I definitely wanna see him get his ass kicked."

And so, both stood on their respective sides of the ring while Vaporeon took a deep breath and remembered what Corviknight had told her. With that, Shaymin smiled and rang the bell thus signalling the start of the match.

Vaporeon immediately sprinted toward Melmetal while he held up his arms defensively. But it seemed as if she had anticipated this, thus she sped behind him and covered the tip of her tail in a sphere of ice. She then spun sideways and rammed it into the cyborg's back, shouting, "ICE FLAIL ROUNDHOUSE!"

Melmetal's eye seemed to expand in size for a few seconds until he swung his arm backward only for Vaporeon to crouch under him. She then latched her tail onto his ankle and pulled back as hard as she could. This proved just enough for him to lose his balance and fall on his belly while all but the Russian fans cheered wildly.

Vaporeon then leapt into the air with her tail still wrapped around his ankle and planted her feet hard into his back. And now that she on top of that very spot, she lay flat on her belly and wrapped her arms around the bottom of his head and pulled up on while doing the same to his leg with her tail.

The crowd was truly ecstatic as Allie squealed, "Way to go, Vaporeon! That was awesome!" Rolycoly uttering, "She was more prepared for this than I thought."

Of course, the others were just as happy to see her get such an early lead, Incineroar laughing, "Oh, yeah! Sock it to him!" Ben saying, "That there Melmetal doesn't stand a chance. Vaporeon's got this in the bag."

Sure enough, this seemed to be the case. Melmetal struggled to free himself but was unable to while Shaymin exclaimed, "And it seems like this final match might already be over! Vaporeon has Melmetal trapped in what I can only describe as a combination of a Boston crab and a camel clutch! What can he possibly do!?"

However, it seemed as if Melmetal had something in his arsenal when he narrowed his eye and said, "Not bad, Vaporeon. You are certainly a worthy opponent. You've already given me a reason to reveal this ability!"

The Russian crowd looked excited while everyone else was confused. But it was not long until they noticed his liquid metal body start to vibrate and gurgle. And before anyone could figure out what he was doing, part of it seeped into the metal nut in his midsection and shot out of his back, forming a spike that went into Vaporeon's flesh before he spat, "LIQUID METAL STALAGMITE!"

All went silent while the force caused the fox to release her hold on Melmetal. She lay right on the spike's tip with here eyes and mouth wide open while blood seeped out of her.

As soon as Shaymin saw this, she got up from her seat and snapped, "Hey, Melmetal, what the hell!? Killing your opponent is against tournament rules!" only for the cyborg to reply, "Oh, she's not dead. I aimed away from the heart for a reason, and I even chose not to use full force. If I had gone all the way, her entire body would have been pierced, but I don't wanna go that far."

As such, he stood upright and retracted his spike so Vaporeon could fall onto the canvas, Scorbunny uttering, "She can still move, right? She's taken in worse," turning to the others and reiterating, "Right!?"

Rillaboom nodded and replied, "Yes, she's fine. Look," while she pointed at the ring. And sure enough, Vaporeon had managed to recover as she sprang back to her feet and breathed heavily, thinking, 'Why did it never occur to me that he might be able to do something like that?'

Either way, she took a deep breath and ignored the wound on her gut. It was just as Scorbunny said. She had dealt with far worse up to this point. But even so, Melmetal seemed even more frightening now. As if his physical strength was not bad enough, now he had this ability to worry about.

Even so, there was no way she would give up, thus she rushed toward the cyborg again. While he may have had some unexpected skills, she remembered that he was not exactly the fastest of opponents. But just as she sped sideways, Melmetal started to spin the nut on his left arm while his body gurgled again. All but the Russian crowd were startled when he extended his arm and swung it toward Vaporeon, struck her cheek hard with the object in question and spat, "HARD BUZZ SAW!"

Vaporeon could not believe this. From just one hit to her face, she had already coughed up blood while she flew sideways into the ropes. Then when she bounced off, Melmetal stood in front of her with his nuts rotating again and rammed them into her sides, shouting, "DOUBLE IRON CRUSH!"

The Russian fans all cheered while everyone else watched in horror. Eevee and Popplio both stared at this with their jaws dropped until the brown fox uttered, "Um, Vaporeon will be okay, right? Lord knows I've been in situations like this more times than I can count."

Popplio nodded and replied, "Oui. I'm certain she can recover from this. She is our fille, after all."

The others were equally concerned when something even more unexpected happened. Melmetal's body once again churned before small fingers emerged from his hands and latched onto the very spots he had just hit. He then pulled her inward and leaned backward, planting the back of her head into the canvas.

Vaporeon once again coughed up blood before Melmetal released her and stood upright. The Russian fans continued to cheer while Vaporeon struggled to rise back to her feet. She could not believe this. Corviknight and Furfrou had dealt far more hits before she had started to feel this weak. And yet just four blows from Melmetal had almost broken her spirits.

All of her friends stared at this as Morgrem uttered, "She can still win, right?" Scorbunny nodding with a serious look in her eyes before she grunted, "Of course she can! This is nothing!" Rillaboom all the while frozen with fear.

While it was not like her to feel this way before a match, something about the thought of facing Melmetal in the second round sent shivers up her spine. Logically, she should have had nothing to worry about. After all, the cyborg was a fellow hero, so it was not as if anything major was at stake. But even so, she had now started to feel that same sense of dread Vaporeon felt before the match began.

With that in mind, she slammed her fists against the railing in front of her and grunted, "Come on, Vaporeon! You started the match strong! I know you can win!" Drizzile nodding and barking, "Yeah, come on! If I could win a match while blind and deaf, you can beat this hunk of scrap any day!"

Allie smiled and chuckled, "You're getting pretty good at smack talk," the chameleon uttering, "Am I?" his cheeks now a light shade of pink.

Even so, Vaporeon blinked when she heard this, and her spirit seemed to build more when Incineroar exclaimed, "They're right, Vaporeon! You're awesome! Now show that slimy mound of bolts why your family dominated the Hero Olympics back in the day!"

Wurmple nodded and chanted, "Vaporeon! Vaporeon!" Ben joining in followed by Incineroar. And it was not long until all of Vaporeon's friends joined in, the citizens of Edmonton and Thailand hollering her name as loud as they could.

This was all the fox needed, thus a light smile formed on her face as she released tears and thought, 'Thank you all so much.'

She then turned back toward Melmetal who implied a smile with his eye and said, "You've got some great friends. I have to say, I'm a little jealous," his eye returning to its normal shape before he added in a much more quiet tone, "It's just such a shame I have to render their words meaningless."

Vaporeon blinked and uttered, "What was that last part?" only for him to reply, "Nothing important. Best not to dwell on it. After all, we have a match to finish."

The fox nodded and decided to go for a more defensive approach. After all, her technique before was what ultimately caused her to take in so much damage in the first place. But unfortunately, it seemed as if Melmetal was ready for this when he once again stretched his arms forward like rubber and spun his hexagonal nuts.

Luckily, though, Vaporeon had seen this coming. As such, she jumped up just in time to avoid the incoming attack and landed on top of the cyborg's arms. Just as she suspected, she was able to stand on them without crushing them under her weight, thus she took full advantage of this and formed her ball of ice once again.

She then leapt forward and spun vertically while she barked, "BOUNCING ICE BALL!" striking the middle of Melmetal's arms with the ice. This caused him to wince in pain before she bounced off and flew farther forward, ramming the tip of her tail hard into his face.

The majority of the crowd cheered wildly as Melmetal grunted in pain and fell hard on his back, Shaymin squealing, "Things were not looking good for Vaporeon, but she gets a second wind with her infamous Bouncing Ice Ball! It seems like she might just win this match after all!"

When Melmetal started to rise back to his feet, Vaporeon wasted no time and dashed behind him. She wrapped her tail around the bottom of his head and lifted him up, the ice sphere still there. She leaned backward and shouted, "ICE FRANKENSTEINER!" ramming his upper back hard into the canvas.

More cheers sounded through the area while Vaporeon breathed heavily and looked down at her opponent. Tori started the ten count as it seemed like she had finally won. The others had big smiles on their faces until Rillaboom uttered, "Wait, it might be too early to celebrate."

"What do you mean?" Morgrem remarked when Tori reached six, the gorilla grunting, "I don't know. I just feel like he shouldn't have gone down that quickly."

Sure enough, it seemed she was right when Melmetal's body once again vibrated and gurgled. His liquid metal then seeped into his belly nut once again as he exclaimed, "LIQUID METAL STALACTITE!" a spike protruding from his back and allowing him to bolt upright.

He then spun the nuts on his hands once again and exclaimed, "HARD BUZZ SAW!" spinning his body around before Vaporeon even had a chance to react. As such, she took another hard blow to her cheek and stumbled sideways. However, this time she tried her hardest not to let it get to her, pressing her tail up against the mat to stop her from falling over.

Unfortunately, this was not enough as Melmetal extended his arms once more and spat, "STEEL KNUCKLES!" ramming the nuts hard into her gut.

Once again, Vaporeon coughed up blood, and with her guard once again lowered, Melmetal raced toward her and spun the nuts on his shoulders. Once he was close enough, he rammed the right one hard into her face and sent her tumbling backwards into the ropes.

The Russian fans all chanted Melmetal's name while everyone else stared in horror. Sure enough, Vaporeon was no longer able to fight back. After such a beating, she felt far too weak to continue, thus she let down a tear and thought, 'No. I was supposed to win the first match.'

Rillaboom was even more terrified now when Melmetal climbed on top of the ropes and held his arm in the air, shouting, "You put up a great fight, Vaporeon, but this ends here!" He then bounced high into the air while his body vibrated once more.

His entire torso expanded until it covered his shoulders. It then grew bigger and bigger until even his arms and legs could no longer be seen. Finally, he descended toward Vaporeon and shouted, "LIQUID IRON PRESS!" his body hitting the fox's gut hard.

Vaporeon spewed one last bit of blood before her eyes rolled to the back of her head. All went silent among the crowd while she lay there and Melmetal reverted to normal, stepping off of her. Shaymin nodded at Tori who bit her lower lip and started the ten count. As much as she hated to admit it, she could tell the fox would not be able to get up from that.

Scorbunny breathed heavily and shook her head while Yanma stared wide-eyed. And of course, the others could not help but gaze upon their ally with horrified expressions. As if Vaporeon losing was not bad enough, the fact that her loss was this harsh was hard to take in.

Eevee and Popplio both looked at one-another with concern and hoped she would at least be okay. After all, that was far worse than any of Eevee's losses had been in the past.

Once ten seconds passed, Tori rang the bell before Shaymin exclaimed, "And after quite possibly the longest and most intense match so far, Vaporeon is down for the count! As such, Melmetal is our winner and the last one to advance to the second round! All eight remaining contestants will have three days to recover and prepare themselves!"

The Russian fans all cheered wildly and clapped with big smiles on their faces while everyone else looked at Vaporeon with concern. Rillaboom breathed heavily and thought, 'Oh my god. I have to fight that thing,' trying her hardest not to let this get to her. However, she could tell that he was far worse than Dracovish.

Incineroar gritted his teeth and growled, "If that guy makes it to the finals, I'll make him pay for this!" pounding his fist against his palm as Ben nodded and grunted, "I have no doubt about that!"

While medics rushed in to load Vaporeon up onto a stretcher, Scorbunny and the others all got up from their seats and rushed toward the area. The rabbit bit her lower lip and asked, "Will she be okay?" one medic nodding and replying, "Yeah. Everyone knows heroes can handle this sort of thing. Even so, she'll definitely be out for at least a week."

As soon as Melmetal heard this, his eye doubled in size until he turned and gasped, "For real!?" the others turning toward him as he uttered, "Oh no, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to apply that much pressure. Sometimes, I underestimate my own strength."

Rolycoly blinked and sighed, "Okay, so he really is just a strong hero. For a second there, I thought he might be some sort of sadist," Morgrem shushing him and pointing at the cyborg standing mere inches away from them.

Luckily, it seemed as if he had not heard this as Rillaboom still got really bad vibes from him but said nothing. The others decided it might be best not to question this right now. At the very least, they needed to go to the hospital with their unconscious friend to make sure she really was okay.

As such, they all exited the area and climbed into the back of the ambulance, Melmetal watching them leave with his arms folded. But while his expression looked sympathetic, there was something about it that also felt off, like deep down, he wished he could have dealt even more damage without being disqualified. Even so, Rillaboom certainly had her work cut out for her in the second round.


	30. Chapter 30

After a little less than an hour, all of Vaporeon's Edmonton friends were gathered around her in the hospital. Scorbunny bit her lower lip and sniffed, "I really wanted to see her win," Rillaboom sighing, "I wanted that match so badly."

Drizzile turned to face the gorilla with concern. While the others had not quite detected it, he could tell how nervous she was about facing Melmetal. And he certainly could not blame her. As scary as the thought of facing Unown was, the cyborg somehow seemed worse despite having come across as far less sadistic.

Even so, the group waited around for a little while longer until Scorbunny put on a serious look and said, "Well, we'll just have to prepare extra hard for round two. I'm sure Vaporeon wouldn't want us to worry about her too much," Drizzile replying, "I think you're right. If we spend too much time dwelling on this, it might screw us up."

"Besides," Morgrem added with a light grin, "It's not like she's dead, right?" the others nodding in agreement. Although at the same time, they still wished she could have at least been awake to see them fight in round two. Hopefully she would at least be able to hear the announcers on the TV in her hospital room.

After another ten minutes, they finally decided to exit and head home for the night. They had two days to prepare themselves for the next round and they intended to use every moment possible to take advantage of that. On top of that, Drizzile and Rillaboom had some unfinished business for the evening.

Once they exited the hospital, they noticed Incineroar, Wurmple, Ben and Yanma in front of the building. All of them looked at one-another with serious looks in their eyes, Incineroar grinning at Drizzile and saying, "Hey, I'm looking forward to our match."

After everything that had happened, the chameleon had almost forgotten that Incineroar was his next opponent. Now that he remembered, he nodded with a smile and replied, "Yeah, same here."

He and the others went along their way before Incineroar's group entered the hospital. All three friends would come out on top for Vaporeon's sake, there was no doubt about that.

Once they arrived home, Scorbunny looked around and uttered, "It feels weird with just the three of us here," Rillaboom nodding and groaning, "Yeah. I just remembered, Vaporeon's the only one of us who knows how to cook."

"Not entirely," the rabbit replied with a light smile before the others turned to her, "She's been teaching me how to cook in our free time. Don't worry about the possibility of starving. I'll make sure we're all well fed in her absence."

And so, Scorbunny whipped up a Greek salad, salmon and fries. Ultimately, she had added a little too much balsamic to her dressing and not enough oil, the salmon was slightly burned on the sides and the fries had too much salt. But while the final result was not quite as good as what Vaporeon would have made, it was certainly a big step up from when the trio attempted to make breakfast on their first day. As such, all three still enjoyed the meal for what it was.

Once that was finished, Scorbunny stretched and said, "Let's call it an early night. We'll need to get up extra early," before enquiring, "Do you all wanna work out together or should we do our own separate routines?"

Rillaboom stroked her chin and replied, "I'd say maybe for the first day, we'll do our own thing and then maybe we can have a three way sparring match on the second day," Drizzile nodding and replying, "Yeah, I like that idea."

With his new skills, he felt confident that he might finally be able to best his friends in combat, even if it was just for sparring purposes. If anything, he felt like this alone would tell him whether or not he was truly prepared for his rematch with Incineroar.

But before the heroes went to sleep for good after each had a quick shower and brushed their teeth, Drizzile took a deep breath and pulled out his phone. He then selected Inteleon's number and held the device up to the side of his head.

After a while, she answered and said, "Hi, son," before yawning, "You know it's, like, six AM here, right?"

"Oh, right, I forgot," Drizzile uttered, "Different time zones and all that," the taller chameleon chuckling, "Oh, it's fine. I saw your match and I have to say, I was very impressed. When that snake put sand in your membranes, I was pretty worried."

"About that," Drizzile replied, "After she hit me those few times, I was able to feel her movements. I could follow her based off of that. Do you know what that was?"

Inteleon smiled and explained, "As a matter of fact, I do. It's a talent that our family has always been able to perform. It's very good for stealth. It's part of the reason I became a spy in the first place."

The short chameleon blinked and said, "So it's a genetic thing," Inteleon replying, "Yep. I'm shocked you were able to use it. It actually wasn't until my very last match that I was able to master it, and keep in mind, I was three years older than you are right now."

Drizzile's eyes sparkled when he heard this. This meant he had the potential to upstage his mother. Sure, that hardly mattered to him, but it was still pretty amazing to say the least. Although he then blinked and enquired, "So, do you know how I can use that again? I get this funny feeling I might need a skill like this for other situations, even if the odds of me being blind and deaf during a match again are slim."

"I am really glad to hear you say that," Inteleon replied, "I was worried you might think you wouldn't need that ability. When I used it back in the day, I had all of my senses working perfectly, so that is a genuine concern."

She then sighed, "Unfortunately, this isn't just something I can tell you how to do. Your grandfather, Sobble, taught me how to use it. Though I had to train with him in order to fully understand it. I'll see if I can come to Edmonton within the next little while so I can help you."

Drizzile nodded and replied, "Okay. That would be great," before talking for a little bit longer and hanging up. He really hoped he could master this soon. After all, if he made it to the finals, he would certainly need it regardless of who he faced.

Rillaboom was currently in the midst of a similar conversation with Thwackey, specifically regarding her vine. However, she got less helpful results when the monkey uttered, "Sorry, honey, but I have no idea how you did that either."

"So this is a power that only I possess?" Rillaboom enquired as Thwackey replied, "Well, at least regarding that lock of hair of yours, yes. You're the only member of our family who has ever had something like that. But I do have a feeling you might be able to do more with the rest of your hair."

The gorilla blinked and continued to listen while the monkey continued, "The thing is, while I've never been able to use vines, I did once master the ability to use the leaves on my head like a buzz saw. Since your hair isn't shaped quite like mine, I don't think you can do that, but I imagine you might be able to pull off some other techniques similar to it."

Rillaboom reached back and held her hair in front of her face. When she looked at it and just how pointy it was, she could see exactly what her mother meant. Why such a possibility had never occurred to her was truly a mystery, but she had a feeling that if she could figure out some way to sharpen her hair and use it like an actual weapon, she might stand much more of a chance against Melmetal.

The next day, all three of them headed off to separate areas to train. Scorbunny went to Hawrelak Park. After she had spent almost an hour there yesterday, she could tell this was the perfect place to hone her skills since it was a wide open space where she could move around as freely as she wanted. Morgrem and Rolycoly had both agreed to join her for moral support.

Drizzile, meanwhile, went to the same gym he had always trained at, Allie once again there to give him moral support. Although since he knew better than to strain himself and train all day, he had offered to help her make some new human friends after they were done. After all, even with everything going on, he did not wish to go back on that promise.

Rillaboom, meanwhile, met up with Thwackey and Obasi in a nearby field. She figured this would be a great place to train her new skills and see if she could figure out how to use them. And while Thwackey's may have been different, she was determined to help her daughter at all cost.

Scorbunny practised her flying kicks while Morgrem grinned and squealed, "You got your match in the bag!" Rolycoly nodding and adding, "That unicorn doesn't stand a chance against you."

"Thanks," the rabbit said with a light smile, "Still, after that last match, I need to focus more on coming up with good strategies. I thought I'd finally figured out how to work around enemy weaknesses, yet it still feels like a fluke that I was able to spot Hatterene's."

Rolycoly blinked and wheeled forward with a serious look in his eyes. He then pounded his fist up against his palm and grunted, "I can help you with that!"

Scorbunny stared and uttered, "Are you sure you wanna do this?" the golem replying, "Yeah. I mean, you already faced Morgrem, and Rillaboom had to use her brain to defeat me, so it kinda makes sense."

The rabbit tapped her chin while Morgrem nodded her head with a grin on her face. She had to admit, that was a very good point, and ultimately, Scorbunny agreed. As such, she struck a fighting stance and quipped, "Bring it!"

At the gym, after Drizzile delivered multiple karate chops to a punching bag, Allie enquired, "Hey, is there anything I can do?"

"Um, Allie, I appreciate the offer, but what exactly can you do to help me train?" the chameleon uttered, "You don't exactly have super powers."

"I know," the girl replied, "That's not what I meant. I could never serve as a true sparring partner for you. What I'm talking about is that movement thing you were talking about. I was thinking maybe I could help you figure it out."

Drizzile stared at her for a few seconds and said, "I appreciate the offer, but it's like I said. Only my mom can teach me that technique, so I figured I shouldn't stress out over it. Besides, I don't think I'll need it against Incineroar."

Allie rolled her eyes, rested her hands on his shoulders and sighed, "How do you know unless you try? Who knows? Incineroar's pretty quick on his feet. Maybe you'll find yourself in a position where sight and hearing won't help you. Maybe your mom's wrong. Maybe you can learn it on your own. I mean, you used it without any prior knowledge, right?"

Just as Drizzile was about to retort, he stopped and stroked his chin. He had to admit that Allie had a point. Besides, he had already done enough strength training. Perhaps if he could pull this off without Inteleon there, he could impress her by using it without her help.

With that in mind, he nodded and instructed Allie to race toward him. He even made sure to close his eyes and wear earplugs so that he could not rely on either sense to help him out.

Unfortunately, he found himself unable to sense the girl as she rammed her shoulder into him. This caused him to back up as she gasped, "Oh my god!" pulling out his earplugs and asking, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Drizzile uttered with a light smile, "I'm a hero. I can handle it," the girl pouting only for him to wave his hands in front of his face and reassuringly say, "Hey, I only just learned about this power. It's not like I'm gonna get it on the first try."

Rillaboom, meanwhile, watched as her mother removed her sticks from her hair bun to reveal four long leaves atop her head. She then flicked the longest one with her finger and caused it to spin at a rapid pace. Finally, as a demonstration, she rested the leaves up against a nearby tree, Rillaboom watching in awe when the leaves managed to put a fairly big cut in it.

"How long did it take you to master that?" she enquired before Obasi explained, "It only took her a day or two. Your mother here was a fast learner."

He then patted Thwackey on the shoulder while she beamed with pride. Hearing this gave Rillaboom all sorts of confidence. At the same time, it also explained why it had not taken her too terribly long to figure out how to use her wood powers.

Back in Hawrelak park, Rolycoly and Scorbunny's match had been surprisingly intense. It was just as the golem suspected. Much like when he faced Rillaboom, he had proven himself very difficult to hit, thus the rabbit was covered in quite a few bruises. And it only got worse for her when he sped toward her with his arms crossed in front of his face and rammed them into her neck.

The rabbit grunted in pain and watched him while he continued to race around her. But just as he was about to go in from behind for a clothesline, she frowned and spun around, delivering a roundhouse to his cheek. This left him completely wide open, thus she leapt at him and took hold of his wrists.

Rolycoly gulped nervously when she lit her feet on fire and spat, "REVERSE BUNNY BLAZE KICK!" ramming them both into his face and knocking him down for exactly ten seconds.

Morgrem ran over to Rolycoly and asked, "Hey, you okay, buddy?" the golem rubbing his face and chuckling, "After facing Duraludon, I can handle pretty much anything."

Scorbunny took a deep breath and replied, "That's good to know. Granted, I did kinda hold back," before enquiring, "So how did I do?"

The goblin and golem both grinned at one-another and gave her a thumb up each. But while this certainly made her more confident, she knew she would still need to work on her skills a little bit more. One could only guess how hard Rapidight had trained so far.

At this moment, Allie decided it was time for Drizzile to take a break from his training. Although he could not help but feel a tad disappointed. Despite the fact that he had spent a half-hour training his new defence manoeuvre, he had not made any progress whatsoever.

Even so, Allie patted him on the shoulder and said soothingly, "Hey, cheer up. It's like you said. You only just discovered this. You're not gonna get it right away. At the very least, I'm sure this practice session will make it easier for you to learn it when your mom gets here."

The chameleon thought about this and nodded, replying, "You may be right," before spotting a pair of human girls nearby. It was not long until they noticed him, their eyes wide with shock before they ran over to him with big smiles on their faces.

"Oh my god!" one with long black hair and tan skin squealed, "I know you! You're Drizzile!" another with short red hair adding, "You were so cool yesterday! The way you beat that snake even though you were blind and deaf! That was just, like, wow!"

Drizzile laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head, Allie biting her lower lip. A part of her wanted to just back away and let the chameleon enjoy his fame in peace, but he quickly saw a golden opportunity. With that in mind, he took hold of Allie's hand, her cheeks flushed pink while he cleared his throat and said in his best attempt at a suave voice, "Hey there, ladies. My BFF and I were just about to hang out at the local..."

He then looked at all the fast food restaurants nearby before spotting one and adding, "A and W for some grub. Would you like to join us?"

Now Allie was no longer scared to interact with these new girls. Now all she could do was bite her lower lip and resist the urge to laugh while the strangers looked at one-another and gasped. Needless to say, they were more than happy to join the two.

Once they were inside, Drizzile started to act more like his real self. As it so happened, both girls were really nice people. The tan girl introduced herself as Bailey and the redhead was Geneva. And it was not long until Allie was able to join into the conversation between them.

"No way!" she exclaimed with a look of shock, "You're into Bone too? I thought I was the only one who still read those books!" Geneva chuckling, "Yeah. We don't talk about it often around other people, not that it helps anyway."

"I'm surprised we never talked to each other before," Bailey added, "Seriously, we've been in the same class together for how long?" Allie uttering, "Well, when you get teased as much as I do, it's hard to make an attempt."

Bailey and Geneva both nodded in understanding while Drizzile beamed bright. Just seeing his plan come together filled him with a great deal of confidence. After all, he had not really expected things to work out this well.

Either way, the conversation continued for a while until it was time for Allie to head home. Thus she, Bailey and Geneva exchanged contact information and made a plan to meet up on the day of the second round and sit together. And so, Allie and Drizzile headed off and waved to their news friends before the tall girl gave the chameleon a light hug and squealed, "Thank you so much!"

Drizzile chuckled, "Well, I probably wouldn't have been able to do something like that if it hadn't been for you," both of them blushing while they carried on their way.

Unfortunately, much like Drizzile, Rillaboom surprisingly had not made much progress with her training either. While she was able to figure out how to control her vine, she had not really figured out anything else. As such, she had a look of shame on her face while she sat on the ground and sighed.

Thwackey smiled and patted her on the shoulder, saying, "There, there, it's fine. I'm sure in due time, you'll get it," the gorilla sighing, "But I don't really have due time. In two days, I'll be up against Melmetal, and you saw what he did to Vaporeon. I just get the feeling if I can't figure out how to use every ability possible, I might not stand a chance."

Obasi blinked as the monkey frowned and did something truly unexpected. She rose her hand and smacked her daughter across the face. And while Rillaboom rubbed her cheek with a look of shock in her eyes, the monkey took hold of her shoulders and grunted, "I never want to hear you say that again!"

Rillaboom stared into her eyes while she added, "Rillaboom, you don't need some fancy greenery to beat Melmetal! You're an amazing fighter, with or without that! Besides, you were able to at least figure out how to control that vine of yours! As far as I'm concerned, that's more than enough! Now are you seriously going to lose because of something as minor as this!?"

The gorilla continued to stare for a few more seconds until a serious look formed on her face and she growled, "Not in your life!" Thwackey beaming and replying, "That's my girl," holding her in a tight embrace.

With all said and done, the trio returned home, all of them feeling much more confident now. While they may not have perfected what they set out to accomplish, they now felt as if they had made at least some progress. Perhaps things would turn out for the best.

And it seemed so on the very next day when around noon, all of them had their three way match out back. Drizzile had invited his new friends to watch, and they were more than happy to come. Just the thought that Bailey and Geneva could hang out in the back yard of a hero, let alone four, was incredible to them.

The fight went on for a surprisingly long time, almost an hour in fact. Each one truly showed how much he or she had improved. Scorbunny managed to use more strategy than ever before, allowing her to deliver more strikes than she had when they last sparred. Rillaboom also put up a good fight with her vine giving her more of an edge.

But of course, the one who had improved the most was Drizzile who was finally able to bring real harm to the others. He had even managed to knock both opponents on their backs with a double clothesline.

Rillaboom slowly rose to her feet and panted heavily, a grin on her face as she grunted, "I gotta hand it to you, Drizzile. You actually knocked me down," before Scorbunny followed suit and said, "Yeah, I did not think this little sparring session would be so much fun, but now I'm gonna end this."

She then leapt backward to a tree and pressed her hands up against it, launching herself off with her heel out and shouting, "BURNING ROCKET!"

Drizzile, however, felt ready for this as he lunged toward her and covered his hands in water. He then formed the water into big fists and barked, "AQUATIC POWER MITTS!" aiming them at Scorbunny's foot.

Rillaboom, on the other hand, saw an opportunity to strike them both down, thus she formed her fist hammers and lifted her arms up, exclaiming, "WOOD HAMMER!"

Sure enough, all three attacks struck at the same time. Since Rillaboom had come in too soon, she was on the receiving end of Scorbunny and Drizzile's attacks while they took in a strike each to the forehead courtesy of the gorilla's hammers. And thus, all three heroes fell on their backs and lay there.

Allie started up a ten count while Bailey and Geneva both stared in stunned silence. And when the tall girl completed the count, she exclaimed, "And it's a three way tie!"

The trio regained consciousness just in time to hear this, thus they all sat upright and breathed heavily while glancing at one-another. Allie bit her lower lip as she could feel friction build up, but it seemed her fears were pointless when the trio smiled. Then light snickers followed only to build to hysterics.

"That was awesome!" Scorbunny squealed before Rillaboom nodded and said, "Yeah. We're more than ready for round two," Drizzile grinning at both of them.

Geneva and Bailey both smiled at one-another. As long-time friends themselves, they understood this feeling very well.

All-in-all, things were certainly looking up for Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Drizzile. While they may not have quite achieved what they wanted to, they were more than ready for the Olympics to resume the following day.


	31. Chapter 31

After what felt like a couple of long days, it was time for the second round of the Hero Olympics to begin. Shaymin had sent the remaining participants a message through every method available that they were to arrive at a place called the Edmonton Expo Centre. Specifically, everyone was to gather in a big hallway, but only part of it would be used for the match.

The entrance leading up to it, though, was treated more like a common setup for a convention. Many vendors had put up stands with merchandise for sale, all of it connected to the Olympic finalists. And since everyone had until noon until the first match started, they figured they may as well enjoy themselves.

Of course, Drizzile had already headed off to prepare for his match. Allie was about to join him until he reminded her that she had agreed to join her new friends in the crowd. As such, she waited outside of the entrance until they arrived and grinned when she saw them.

Meanwhile, everyone else decided to browse the vendor's hall, figuring they may as well enjoy themselves to a certain degree. Scorbunny noticed an entire display of plush toys based off of her, her eyes sparkling when she saw just how many people were shopping from it. Although she also noticed a few action figures of Hatterene, each one designed to have her real body pop out of it when someone pushed a small button on the back of it.

Rillaboom spotted plenty of merchandise based off of her as well, though unlike Scorbunny, she simply smiled and nodded. After all, she knew this sort of thing was common for heroes. It was not as if having merchandise based off of her made her more special than anyone else.

Of course, Allie and her new friends walked along the hall as well, Geneva holding up a Drizzile figure that was designed to shoot water from its mouth. Bailey let out a sigh and groaned, "Tell me you're not gonna splash your brother with that," the redhead gasping, "Perish the thought!"

Morgrem and Rolycoly looked around and sighed, the goblin groaning, "Just think, if we'd made it to the finals, our merch would be here," the golem grumbling, "I know. I wish I could see one action figure of me here. I could be like a race car. Kids like race cars, right?"

The duo soon spotted Allie and waved to her before they approached her. She turned with a smile and said, "Hey, guys," Geneva and Bailey turning to face them. As if Allie being friends with Drizzile was not enough, they could not believe that she could just casually talk to two other heroes as if it was not a big deal.

"Have you seen the others?" Allie enquired only for Morgrem to shrug and reply, "No, we just got here," Rolycoly holding the same figure Bailey had purchased before squeezing it as it sprayed water in his face. His eyes narrowed before he turned and spotted Bailey and Geneva staring at him.

"Um, hi?" he uttered before Morgrem turned to face them. Soon enough, all thoughts they had about the lack of items related to them vanished when Geneva approached the golem and gasped, "I know you! You're the one who beat Duraludon and almost beat Rillaboom!"

"Oh, yeah, that's me," Rolycoly uttered with a chuckle and pink cheeks before the redhead added, "You know, after the way you beat that dragon, I've always thought you were so cool. Could I take a selfie with you?"

The golem's eyes sparkled and his jaw dropped. This was easily the best moment of his entire life. And of course, Morgrem grinned and said, "Well, well, well, look at Mister Popular over here. I'm surprised it took this long, honestly."

Bailey smiled and whispered to Allie, "You are so cool," the tall girl confused by this comment. Though she said nothing in response. After all, Drizzile had been the only one to ever tell her that up until this point, so to hear this from someone else, let alone another human was nice.

While this went on, Drizzile got in a little bit of last-minute training with a punching bag. Luckily for him, the staff had set up stations for him and Incineroar, and this was just fine with him.

He sent a variety of palm punches into the bag and formed dents in it. He then delivered a hard strike to it and caused it to swing back. After that, he closed his eyes and blocked out all sound only for the bag to smack him in the face.

When he backed away from it and rubbed his snout, he took a deep breath and thought, 'Yeah, guess I can't rely on that in this match. Oh well, I should be fine without it. Even if I lose, I made it this far."

Once only a few minutes remained, the bleachers were soon filled in part of the hall reserved for the match. Ben and Wurmple sat among the Indian crowd with anticipation, ready to cheer for their friend. While they no longer had anything against Drizzile, they still felt loyal to Incineroar.

And of course, the others arrived, Geneva seated between Bailey and Rolycoly. However, as soon as both girls saw Scorbunny and Rillaboom take a seat next to Allie, their excitement was through the roof. And when Allie introduced them, they could not help but feel tense.

However, they soon calmed down when Shaymin stated, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it's finally time to begin round two of the Hero Olympics tournament! And I gotta say, what a fantastic turnout! Now, for those unaware, this round works differently from the first."

Tori nodded and added, "That's right. This time around, we will change our location after each match as opposed to every two matches, so we will be in a new spot after this one. Also, since there are only four today, the wait between each match has been extended by a half hour, meaning the contestants will have even more time to prepare themselves."

The audience nodded before Shaymin squealed, "In the red corner, hailing from India is a feisty feline with a fiery spirit! He has so far bested Orbeetle in combat and is most likely going to shock and amaze us again today! Everyone, give a round of applause for Incineroar!"

The crowd went wild when the tiger performed a series of back flips toward the ring. But unlike before, he had a Thai flag tied to his tail. And then he landed in the ring, he released it and allowed it to blow away from the ring with the help of a big fan he had hired the staff to place nearby. He then had them turn it off, flashed two peace signs and barked, "I'M GONNA DO MY BEST FOR VAPOREON!"

This amazed the crowd even more while Tori stated, "And as we can see, Incineroar's all fired up! Even though his opponent is also good friends with Vaporeon, he's not gonna hold back!"

"Oh yeah, that's right, you guys are Vaporeon's allies," Bailey uttered, "I forgot all about that," Rillaboom nodding and replying, "Yep, and I'm gonna make Melmetal pay for what he did to her."

"In the blue corner, coming to us from Ireland is a reptile with far more strength and skill than one would expect," Tori stated, "Despite so much going against him, he has managed to overcome Sandaconda and has even fought Incineroar once before! But let's see if he can actually claim victory this time! Give it up for Drizzile!"

The Irish and Edmontonian fans cheered while the chameleon skated toward the ring with his feet covered in water. Once he was close enough, he took hold of the edge of the ring and propelled himself high into the air, landing in front of Incineroar with a serious look in his eyes. All the while, Allie beamed bright in approval.

Incineroar grinned and said, "That was a good entrance. Not great, but effective," Drizzile smiling and replying, "Well, wait'll you see how much I've improved."

And so, both fighters bowed to one-another and headed to their own separate sides of the ring. Tori smiled at this and said, "It's always great to see fighters show respect before an epic battle," Shaymin nodding and replying, "Yeah. I can't wait to see them beat the shit out of each other."

Tori made a neck-slitting motion and whispered, "You know you can't use language like that in front of children here, right?" the hedgehog remarking, "Oh, come on, the fighters have been talking like that since the beginning. Why can't I?"

The human woman opened her mouth to retort but blinked and scratched her head. As much as it pained her to admit it, Shaymin had a good point. Now the human just hoped there would be no parent complaints about this.

Either way, the crowd was ready, thus Shaymin grinned and exclaimed, "Alright, folks, without further ado, let's begin!" and rang the bell.

Incineroar immediately raced toward Drizzile with his claws at the ready. But just as he was about to send them forward, the chameleon easily dodged to the right and knelt down to deliver a sweep kick. The tiger's eyes were wide with shock as this proved enough to make him lose his balance and fall on his side, Drizzile leaping into the air and planting his elbow into his ribcage.

While Incineroar yowled in pain, all but the Irish fans cheered wildly. While the citizens of Edmonton had nothing but respect for the tiger, Drizzile was the favourite to win the match, especially since many of them found his rise from underdog to potential champion inspiring.

And things only seemed to look better when he leapt behind Incineroar's head and wrapped his legs around his neck for a figure four headlock. All the while, Tori stated, "And sure enough, Drizzile has certainly proven himself much better than he was the first time around! While he was barely able to do a thing to Incineroar before, now he's actually able to inflict legitimate pain, which I think we all wanted to see!"

"Damn!" Ben exclaimed with his eyes wide open, "I know Drizzile's gotten better, but I didn't think he'd do this well so soon!" Wurmple nodding and uttering, "Still, it is pretty early in the match. I'm sure Incineroar can turn things around like he always does."

All the while, Bailey gasped, "So cool!" Allie nodding and thinking, 'Good job, Drizzile. Keep it up. I just know you'll win.'

Incineroar smirked and chuckled, "I gotta hand it to you, Drizz, I'm impressed. I expected something like this after your match with Sandaconda, but this is still pretty amazing. It'll make my victory all the more satisfying."

He then lifted his arms and latched onto Drizzile's legs before lashing out his claws, lighting them on fire and shouting, "INFERNO STAB!" jabbing the claws into the parts he had latched onto.

The crowd gasped when blood squirted out, Drizzile trying his absolute hardest to ignore the pain coursing through him. However, he could barely handle it, thus he loosened his hold so Incineroar could rise to his feet without causing himself additional pain. And after that, the tiger leapt into the air, leaned backward and rammed Drizzile's back into the canvas.

The Indian fans cheered wildly while the chameleon cried out in pain and released his hold. This was all Incineroar needed before he lit his tail on fire and rammed it hard into his opponent's gut, barking, "PYRO WHIP!"

He then wrapped his tail around Drizzile's neck and lifted him up before he spun around and released his hold. This sent the chameleon head-first into the turnbuckle while Allie and the others all watched in horror.

Rolycoly and Geneva both groaned only for Morgrem to grin and say, "Don't worry. He's been in worse situations," the golem blinking and uttering, "Oh yeah. Sandaconda did more damage than that."

Even so, Drizzile would certainly need to act fast when Incineroar raced toward him with his arm out and covered in black flames. The chameleon bit his lower lip and attempted to dodge only for the tiger to pick up the pace and ram his arm into his neck, shouting, "DARKEST LARIAT!"

Drizzile coughed up blood but remained upright. After all, he was still up against the turnbuckle, meaning this move could not knock him down. But Incineroar already knew this, thus he leapt onto the turnbuckle, turned himself around and rested his hand against the chameleon's head. Afterwards, he planted his knee up against the back of Drizzile's neck and leapt off the pole, ramming his face into the canvas.

"Drizzile had a great start, but Incineroar makes up for it with a terrible onslaught!" Shaymin exclaimed, "How can Drizzile make up for this!?" Allie gasping, "Oh no!"

Tori noticed Drizzile just lying there, thus she started the count while Incineroar folded his arms and sighed, "Don't take it personally, Drizz. You've really impressed me with your improvements. It's because of that very fact that I resolved to take this fight far more seriously than when we first fought. But even so, I have a funny feeling you're not really done for, are you?"

Sure enough, the tiger was right. Once Tori reached five seconds, Drizzile placed his hands firmly against the mat and pushed himself up. He took a deep breath and turned toward Incineroar, saying, "You're as tough as ever, I see."

The Irish fans along with the chameleon's friends were all relieved as Rillaboom grinned, folded her arms and said, "I knew it. There's no way Drizzile would go down that quickly."

"True that," Morgrem replied, "Even back when he was weak, he took in all sorts of punishment before losing to me," Bailey uttering, "I forgot that you two fought at one point."

But while Incineroar was glad that Drizzile had risen to his feet, he still had no intention of losing. As such, he sent a punch forward only for the chameleon to dodge and take hold of his wrist. Before the tiger could even respond, Drizzile sped behind him while still holding the wrist and locked it behind his back.

Incineroar yowled in pain before Drizzile lifted him up, leaned backward and planted the back of his head into the mat. The crowd went wild while Shaymin squealed, "And Drizzile has made the comeback, combining a submission hold with a suplex! And just think, he used to be unable to pull off anything like that!"

"Well, it wasn't so much that he was unable to do that," Tori replied, "It was more that he barely dealt any damage with, well, anything before."

Drizzile removed his hold on Incineroar and allowed him to collapse before leaping onto the top rope. He knew full well this match was not over, and thus he covered his hands in water and leapt off of the rope, morphing the water into a pair of blades. He then aimed them straight for Incineroar's gut and shouted, "AQUATIC DAGGERS!"

Wurmple and Ben were shocked when the tiger took in the strike, blood dripping from the wounds that formed. They had expected him to counter that for sure. But it seemed as if their concern was meaningless when the tiger smirked and said, "Nice hit, but I knew that wouldn't be good enough."

"Wait, he let himself get hit?" Rillaboom uttered, the others equally shocked while Incineroar grabbed hold of Drizzile's sides and pried the blades out of his gut. He then flipped the chameleon upside-down and said, "I hate to end this, but I gotta hand it to you. You've really impressed me today."

The tiger leapt backward onto the top rope and bounced off of it high into the air while the crowd went silent. He then proceeded to wrap his legs around Drizzile's neck while his belt glowed and released a stream of fire that circled around both fighters. And sure enough, the chameleon's skull soon made contact with the canvas as he coughed up blood, Incineroar roaring, "PYRO HURRICANE!"

The Indian fans cheered while everyone else stared with their mouths agape. When Incineroar released his hold and allowed Drizzile to collapse, Allie bit her lower lip and whimpered, "I know this is between friends, but I really hope Drizzile can recover again."

The others nodded as Scorbunny said, "Come on, Drizzile, you can get up from that, right?" Tori starting the ten count.

Bailey and Geneva both stared in horror while Incineroar took a deep breath and looked down at his opponent. He then nodded his head in approval, thinking, 'I wasn't lying, Drizzile. I'm impressed you've managed to come this far. But even so, I'm not gonna let you get in my way of becoming champion. Besides, it's like I said. If that Melmetal makes his way into the finals, I wanna be the one to pay him back for what he did to Vaporeon.'

But while he thought this, Drizzile managed to regain enough strength to latch his tail onto Incineroar's ankle. He then yanked back and caused the tiger to fall on his back, most of the crowd cheering as he rose to his feet and breathed heavily. He also made sure to distance himself since he knew that would not be enough to keep Incineroar down.

Sure enough, the tiger flipped himself back onto his feet and stared in a mix of shock and admiration. A big grin then formed on his face before he broke out into heavy laughter, everyone confused by all of this. Bailey blinked and uttered, "Did he just snap?" Geneva shrugging as Allie nodded and said, "I think I see what's going on, here."

Ben and Wurmple could see it as well while Incineroar exclaimed, "Oh yeah, now this is a match!" racing toward Drizzile who leapt to the side only for the tiger to hold out his arm and cover in in black fire. But just as it seemed like the chameleon would take in another hit, he leaned backward and held his hands back, placing them against the canvas to keep himself from falling.

The crowd cheered as Shaymin spat, "Wow, what incredible reflexes! Drizzile has managed to dodge both of Incineroar's moves despite having very little time to do so!"

Things only got better for the chameleon when he wrapped his legs around Incineroar's left leg. This caused him to trip and fall on his back before Drizzile rose to his feet and formed water around his hands, morphing it into a pair of shuriken.

But just as he was about to send them downward, Incineroar smirked and held his hands up to block them. The shuriken jabbed his flesh, blood trickling from his hands, but he ignored this and placed a tight, firm grip on the parts he had just blocked. He then used his tail to propel himself into the air, leaned backward and planted Drizzile's head into the canvas.

The Indian crowd cheered until the chameleon rose to his feet and formed water around his hands again. This time, he morphed it into a pair of large hands and barked, "AQUATIC POWER MITTS!" aiming a punch toward Incineroar.

Once again, the tiger was prepared for this as he lit his claws on fire and exclaimed, "INFERNO SLASH!" swinging the claws into the incoming fist. Both started to swing their arms forward at a rapid pace, Drizzile's fists and Incineroar's claws clashing every time. A cloud of steam formed around the two as a result, thus the audience could no longer see what was going on.

However, they could certainly hear the attacks still clashing. Although at this point, both fighters were starting to lose energy. Once Drizzile noticed this, his eyes went wide and thus he stopped his assault. While this did result in Incineroar clawing open his belly, he simply ignored the pain and backed up, now evading the incoming slashes.

Sure enough, it seemed as if his change in tactics had worked when Incineroar started to slow down. It was at this exact moment that the fog started to fade just in time for Drizzile to send a palm punch hard into the tiger's chin with his hands still covered in his big watery mittens.

Wurmple and Ben both stared in shock as Incineroar coughed up blood, Rockruff having seen this all on TV back in Spain. All the while, Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Allie all watched with open-mouth smiles, Bailey and Geneva's eyes sparkling. And of course, Morgrem grinned while Rolycoly breathed a sigh of relief.

Although deep down, no one expected this move alone to end the match. There was no way a palm punch, even one with added force, would be enough to take down Incineroar for good. And yet the tiger lay there without any movement while Tori started the ten count.

"After a very intense back and forth, Drizzile has managed to knock Incineroar down with his Aquatic Power Mitts!" Shaymin exclaimed, "Or, rather, power mitt, but you get the point. Can Incineroar get up from this?"

The truth was that Incineroar could have very well gotten up. Sure, the blow had been a hard one, but at this point, he felt that Drizzile was much more worthy of advancing to the finals than he was. As such, he simply lay there and allowed Tori to reach ten seconds, thus she rang the bell while the crowd stared silently.

"And after a very, very intense match, Drizzile has won!" Tori stated, "Therefor he will advance to the semi-finals!"

The crowd continued to stare, many with their eyes wide open. But after twenty seconds, the area erupted with cheers and applause, Drizzile gazing upon Incineroar with his own look of disbelief. Was this real? Had he actually won with that?

"WAY TO GO, DRIZZILE!" Allie squealed, "That was amazing!" Scorbunny and Rillaboom giving him thumbs up. And all the while, Ben and Wurmple both stared at one-another, each one pinching the other to make sure they were not dreaming.

At that exact moment, Incineroar grinned and opened his eyes. However, he did not wish for Drizzile to know that he had essentially taken a dive. After all, if he revealed that, it would surely lower the chameleon's spirits. As such, he pretended to struggle while he rose back to his feet, Drizzile turning to face him.

"Good job, Drizz," Incineroar said with a grin and his fist held out, "You really are something else."

Drizzile blinked before a smile crossed his face. As such, he held out his own fist and pounded it against Incineroar's, the crowd once again cheering. However, this time, even the Indian fans joined in while Tori sniffed, "It's always so beautiful when two opponents show such amazing sportsmanship!"

All the while, Wendy and Brian both watched this at home with big smiles on their faces. The woman grinned and said, "I knew he'd win," the man replying, "Yeah, I have no doubt he could very well become the world champion."

With all said and done, Incineroar and Drizzile both bowed to each other and headed out of the ring. But since they knew they would have to relocate soon, they decided not to go to the bleachers, and this was certainly the right call when Shaymin stated, "With the first match out of the way, it's time for a change in venue. Therefor, we will hold the second match at the Downtown Community Arena!"

Sure enough, there were already vehicles set up to take everyone there, but before Drizzile could head off to take his own ride, the others ran up to him and gave him a big group hug. Allie grinned and squealed, "I knew you could do it!"

Drizzile nodded with a light smile and replied, "Well, it was really intense, but yeah, I can't believe I actually made it this far."

Rillaboom grinned and replied, "Well, you did. And if you make it to the finals, just know that I'll be ready," Scorbunny retorting, "Assuming I don't qualify instead!"

Both laughed while the others gave their own words of encouragement. But all the while, Drednaw simply eyed the chameleon and nodded her head, thinking, 'He'll make for a good third opponent once I take down Unown.'

Though when she looked around the area, she could see that Unown was nowhere to be seen. In fact, he had not even been there to see Drizzile's match at all, but why? Whatever the case, she was ready for him.


	32. Chapter 32

With Drizzile's match out of the way, everyone was headed to the Downtown Community Arena for the next fight. When everyone arrived, those from outside of Edmonton were curious as to the choice of location. After all, when they heard arena, they figured it was another standard sports area. They had not expected an indoor hockey rink.

Either way, there was not nearly as much for everyone to do here while they waited for the match to begin. As such, many just simply walked around the area while Scorbunny and Rillaboom decided to head off somewhere to train a little bit more. After all, their matches would be very soon and they wanted to be ready.

Both worked hard while Scorbunny said, "That Rapidight will wish she never left the farm," Rillaboom grunting, "And Melmetal's gonna pay for what he did to Vaporeon!

All the while, Drizzile walked around with the girls. Although Rolycoly could not help but feel a touch nervous when he joined them. Morgrem had offered to save them all front row seats, and for some reason, she had convinced the golem to spend time with the others.

However, he had to remember that he had been without her before. Thus he took a deep breath and smiled at Geneva, asking, "So, um, do you like ice skating?"

"Yeah, though I don't do it as much as I'd like to," she replied, "Why? Would you like to go skating sometime?" the golem nodding and replying, "Yeah, I'd love to. That rink at West Ed looks rather nice, even if it is only available to the general public at certain times."

During this time, Drednaw was busy sharpening her horn. After all, despite having seen very little, she knew full well that Unown was not to be taken lightly. He had defeated Monferno so easily and there was no way the tortoise would allow that to happen to her.

The time soon passed before everyone gathered in front of a large ice rink with a wrestling ring right in the middle of it. Shaymin and Tori sat behind a podium while the hedgehog exclaimed, "It's almost time for the second match to begin! I imagine many of you are probably curious about our choice of location this time!"

Tori nodded and added, "Much like the lake, this was chosen to make the match more interesting. Basically, if anyone falls out of the ring, well, let's just say they'd better be damn good on the ice otherwise it might be a nightmare for them to get back into the ring. Not to mention the amount of pain just falling on that ice would cause."

"I just thought of something," Allie uttered, "Why do they only use these kinds of gimmicks for some matches but not all of them?" Drizzile shrugging and replying, "Hey, it allowed me to face my opponents under fair conditions, so I'm not complaining."

"In the red corner, hailing from Mexico is a mighty combination of ancient letters who has truly proven himself a force to be reckoned with!" Shaymin stated, "He made really quick work of Monferno, and one can only imagine how quickly he might just win this one! Give it up for Unown!"

The Mexican fans all cheered wildly while Unown decided now was a good time to show off one of his forms. Thus he separated his letters from each other and reformed them into the shape of a fox. With that, he raced across the ice with ease and leapt into the air, flipping vertically onto the ring's surface.

"And in the blue corner, we have the Icelandic tortoise with rocks growing out of her!" Tori exclaimed, "She took in a lot of punishment from Magnezone and ultimately came out on top, but can she give Unown a run for his money!? Drednaw, everyone!"

The Icelandic crowd went wild when the tortoise entered the area on all fours. She then used her hands to slide forward and tucked her arms and legs into her shell. And once she was close enough to the ring, she used her tail to propel herself into the air and under the bottom ropes.

Needless to say, many people were very impressed by this as Rolycoly uttered, "Holy shit, she timed that so perfectly. I couldn't see myself pulling off something like that, and I'm short enough to fit under those ropes."

Drednaw stood upright and let out a loud battle cry with her fists raised in the air. She then glared at Unown and grunted, "Before we begin, I need to know something. Yesterday, during my match, you weren't there. You left the area and didn't bother to stick around for any of the other matches. Why is that?"

The crowd stared before one member uttered, "Now that she mentions it, that's true," another adding, "That's a really good point. Wouldn't it have been beneficial for him to stick around and check out the competition?"

Drizzile nodded and said, "I didn't think too much about that, but she's right. He wasn't even there to see my match," the others turning to face him and uttering, "He wasn't!?"

Unown chuckled and replied, "How very perceptive of you, but yes, you're right. I have not watched a single match throughout this tournament. In fact, I only knew to come here because it's on the official Hero Olympics website, so I didn't even need to go to the Expo Centre to know to come here."

"Wait, so you've been here since noon!?" the Drednaw retorted while the crowd and even Shaymin and Tori were even more shocked. Why would anyone do that?"

They would know soon enough when the odd being chuckled, "Well, I like to go into a match with a fresh slate. I find it more fun to face an opponent knowing nothing about them in advance. That way, I can see what kinds of abilities they can use first-hand as opposed to watching someone else fall victim to them and devising strategies based off of that."

Drednaw narrowed her eyelids and grunted, "That's fine by me. That just means you'll be easy pickings," planting her fist into her palm, "Just you wait. I'll wipe that smug look off your face soon enough."

When Unown rolled his eye and struck a fighting stance, Shaymin nodded and squealed, "Well, folks, the combatants are set! Let's begin!" and rang the bell.

Drednaw immediately raced toward Unown and thought, 'If this turns out like his match with Monferno, he'll likely allow me to hit him so he can learn my tactics. That's fine by me. I'll dish out all my best skills and make sure he can't take advantage of them! He's basically guaranteed his failure!'

Sure enough, Unown did not put up much of an effort, thus the tortoise easily rammed her elbow along with its spike as hard as she could into his chest. She then took hold of his shoulders and rammed her horn into his skull, shouting, "HORN SMASH!"

The Icelandic crowd went wild while Shaymin stated, "And Drednaw's already on the offensive! She's determined to defeat her opponent as quickly as possible!" the tortoise unleashing a barrage of karate chops before opening her mouth and barking, "STONE JAWS!"

She bit into his shoulder and kept her teeth there until he lifted up his arms. But much like when he tried this against Monferno, Drednaw refused to let him counter, thus she removed her jaws and lifted him up, resting his back against her horn and pulling as hard as she could on his legs and chin.

The Icelandic crowd continued to go wild while Scorbunny uttered, "She's much better than she was when she fought Magnezone," Rillaboom shaking her head and replying, "Well, I do feel she has improved, but most of those hits are a result of Unown's arrogance. And she knows this, so she's dishing out all of her best moves right now so he can't take advantage of her battle tactics later. It's a good tactic, but it could also be risky. Using that many strong attacks in succession can put a major toll on one's energy."

Whatever the case, it seemed as if Drednaw had this match in the bag when she leapt into the air and leaned backward, planting Unown's side into the canvas and shouting, "ROCK BACKBREAKER SUPLEX!"

It seemed as if her strategy might very well have worked when Unown struggled to get up. It certainly made sense. After all, the tortoise was physically stronger than Monferno, so it only stood to reason her best moves would deal far more damage.

However, all she had to see was that the odd being was still able to move at all. As such, she aimed her foot at his ribcage only for him to wrap his arm around her ankle. Her eyes widened when he yanked back and caused her to trip and fall on her shell.

The Mexican crowd grinned while Unown rose to his feet, Drednaw trying her hardest to climb back to her feet only to take his foot to her gut. As if that was not enough, he chuckled and exclaimed, "ANCIENT POWER!" before separating his body parts and shifting them into the form of Japanese rhino beetle.

This caused his weight to increase dramatically while Drednaw could feel the pressure. She winced in pain and slowly rose her hands to take hold of his ankle. However, this proved pointless when he leapt off of her and flipped himself upside-down, descending toward her and barking, "ANCIENT KABUTO MISSILE!"

He then rammed his horn into her gut, and while her carapace provided some protection, it was not enough, thus she already coughed up blood despite having only taken in two hits so far. The Icelandic crowd watched with concern while he lifted Drednaw up and held her up onto his shoulders. He then leaned backward and planted the back of her head into the canvas before he released his hold and distanced himself from her.

"Things started off very heavily in Drednaw's favour, but just like when he fought Monferno, Unown has made quite an impressive comeback," Shaymin stated, "As if the hits themselves weren't bad enough, he's even managed to knock Drednaw onto her shell twice!"

"I'll admit, you are much, much stronger than Monferno, that's for sure," Unown quipped, "In fact, your moves actually managed to hurt me. But even with that in mind, your style is much more flawed. While Monferno was quick on her feet, you're slow and sluggish. Hell, if I hadn't let you hit me, you never would have dealt any damage to me at all."

Drednaw growled and opened her mouth, attempting to bite his ankle only for the odd being to step back. He then waved his finger at her and shook his head before he said, "Don't try to cut people off. It's rude."

The tortoise grimaced while he sighed, "You know what your biggest weakness is, though? You're a tortoise. That means you can't do a thing to me now that you're on your back," only for Drednaw to smirk and retort, "You think so, do you?"

Unown's eye went wide when she planted her hands against the mat and flipped herself two hundred and seventy degrees. Before he could even respond, she planted her foot hard into his face and caused him to fall on his back while she righted herself up, smirking and grunting, "You're not the only one who can play possum."

The Icelandic crowd went wild as Rillaboom uttered, "Colour me impressed," Morgrem and Rolycoly both uttering, "She could have done that the whole time?"

Of course, by this point, Drednaw could tell that she could not allow this match to continue any longer. As such, she lifted Unown above her head and hurled him over the ropes. The Icelandic crowd went wild when the odd being fell hard against the ice and slid across it, his body starting to twitch again.

Drednaw smirked and thought, 'Just try to get back into the ring now,' her eyes wide with terror when Unown shouted, "ANCIENT POWER!" and took on his fox form again. He managed to stand up perfectly while Allie uttered, "Oh no, that's right. She didn't see how he entered the ring."

The tortoise could not believe that she had made such an oversight. Of course someone with his power would be able to find a way to walk on ice without trouble. Although a part of her could not help but wonder why this of all forms allowed him to do so.

Unown easily sprinted across the surface and leapt into the air. He then spun toward a still spellbound Drednaw and rammed himself hard into her face, barking, "ANCIENT FLYING FOX WHEEL!"

Back in the hospital, Vaporeon winced and shifted in her bed. Somehow, just the sound of that name from the TV stirred movement in her, but why? Whatever the case, it certainly did not last as she was back to her unconscious state within a matter of seconds.

Drednaw was once again on her back, but now that she had revealed her secret, she saw no need to pretend that she was unable to get up. Thus she once again flipped herself upright and breathed heavily, gasping, "How is a fox able to walk on ice?"

"You have heard of arctic foxes, haven't you?" Unown remarked before she growled, "That's a cop-out and you know it!"

Even so, this certainly ruined her plan, and she would need to think fast as Unown seemed to have much more in store for her. As such, he leapt into the air and yelled, "ANCIENT POWER!" this time taking the form of a falcon.

Before Drednaw even had a chance to retaliate, Unown proceeded to grab onto her shoulders and lift her up. A smirk formed on his face before he flipped three hundred and sixty degrees backward and released his hold. Just as the crowd suspected, this was enough for Drednaw to fly out of the ring and land skull-first onto the ice.

A small crack formed as a nearby staff member stared in horror only for Shaymin to say reassuringly, "Don't worry. We'll have it repaired once the match is over."

All the while, Tori started a twenty count while Drednaw placed her hands against the mat to push herself up. Unfortunately, unlike the first couple of times she did this, it failed when her hands slipped and caused her to fall on her shell. Her eyes were wide with horror as she tried desperately to get back up only to fail each time.

"I knew it," Unown said with an implied smirk while everyone else stared in confusion, "The odd way you approached the ring said it all. You can't walk on ice, can you?" Tori now at seven seconds, "Kind of ironic for someone who grew up in a country called Iceland, but oh well."

He then returned to his normal form, folded his arms behind his back and added, "It feels cheap to win like this, but a victory's a victory. But look on the bright side. At least this way, you won't be hospitalized like Monferno."

Drizzile watched with intensity and thought, 'Okay, yeah, he's scary. Very scary. Even more so than Runerigus. But I'm sure I can beat him,' nervous sweat forming on his face while his mind added, 'Right?'

When Tori reached fifteen seconds, Drednaw growled and planted her elbow spikes into the ice. With that, she took a deep breath and pushed herself upright. Unown saw this as his eye went wide, the Icelandic crowd cheering. Though the tortoise knew she needed to be fast as she only had two seconds.

With that in mind, she applied as much force as possible to used her foot to boost herself forward. And once she was close to the ring, she grabbed onto the bottom rope just in time for Tori to stop herself from counting to twenty.

"And after a very close call, Drednaw has managed to overcome her weakness and save herself from a ring out!" the woman exclaimed while the tortoise bit into the side of the ring and pulled herself back up into it, her feet sliding back and forth on the ice before she could do so. If anything, it was a miracle she had managed to glide toward the ring at all.

Even so, she felt more than ready while she breathed heavily and glared at Unown. Strangely enough, this made Drizzile feel at ease. While she may have been physically strong, he had a feeling she would have been a much better opponent for him.

And of course, Drednaw would not allow Unown to have another chance to take her down. As such, she raced forward and rammed her horn hard into his gut, grunting, "HORN SMASH!"

Unown winced before she latched onto his shoulders and grunted, "I'll admit, you are right about one thing. It's embarrassing that I can't just walk on ice after living most of my life in a place known for it. But I'm not gonna let that stop me!"

With that in mind, she lifted the odd being up while the Icelandic crowd cheered heavily. One member smiled and yelled, "Don't worry, Drednaw! I won't judge you for that!" the others shouting their own words of encouragement. And while this was a minor thing, the tortoise could not help but blush.

But just as she was seconds away from slamming Unown's skull into the canvas, the odd being narrowed his eyelids and grunted, "Ancient Power," before his letters once again separated. This caused Drednaw to release her hold, though she managed to right herself up just in time to stop the back of her head from hitting the mat.

Even so, this hardly mattered when Unown took on the form of a gorilla, Rillaboom's eyes wide with shock while Scorbunny whimpered, "Is there any animal he can't turn into?"

Although right now, Drizzile's biggest fear was what Unown had done before he took on this new form. He had used his transformation power to free himself from a hold. Just how long had he been able to do that? Had he taken in that first slam Drednaw used on purpose?

The Mexican fans all cheered wildly while Unown latched onto Drednaw from behind and lifted her up, exclaiming, "Let me show you a real suplex!" ramming the back of her head into the canvas.

Drednaw gritted her teeth and ignored the pain before latching her ankles onto Unown's sides. However, he once again separated his letters and took on the form of a snake. And after the tortoise fell onto her shell, he slithered behind her and wrapped his tail around her neck, hissing, "ANCIENT SNAKE NOOSE!"

Drednaw could not believe it. She should have been able to easily escape from a move like this. And yet this caused her so much more pain than it should have. As such, she gagged while her eyelids started to close.

Allie turned to Drizzile whose confidence had just about left him at this point. She really hoped he could get over that sense of dread in time for the match. After all, he would certainly need to be at his best to face an opponent like this.

But just as Drednaw was about to pass out, the chameleon shocked everyone when he stood up and cried, "Come on, Drednaw! Fight it! You can still win!"

Even the Icelandic crowd could not help but stare wide-eyed while Shaymin exclaimed, "You just heard it yourself, folks! Drizzile just cheered for a possible semi-finals opponent! Now that is some amazing sportsmanship!"

'Sportsmanship my ass,' Unown thought with his eye narrowed, 'He's just afraid to fight me. May as well give him more of a reason,' tightening his grip on Drednaw's neck with an implied smirk.

However, it seemed as if Drizzile's words really had worked when the tortoise ignored the additional pain and frowned. She then placed a firm grip against the odd being's tail and grunted, "Don't worry, Drizzile! I'll make sure you and I have ourselves a good semi-finals match!"

The crowd stared when she rose to her feet, now completely ignoring all of the pain Unown had caused. He shook his head and thought, 'How did that work!?' It was truly incredible. For the first time in the entire tournament, he was legitimately frightened, so much so that he did not even respond when Drednaw tilted her body forward and swung him downward, planting his chin into the canvas.

"Wow," Bailey uttered, "You really helped her out there," Morgrem grinning and replying, "It's amazing what words of encouragement can accomplish."

But when Unown released his hold on Drednaw, the Icelandic crowd cheered only to stop when they noticed something off. As soon as Drednaw's burst of strength came, it left and now all she could do was breathe heavily with her arms feeling limp. She tried her hardest to keep her eyes open and thought, 'No, I can do this. I meant what I said. I can...'

Unfortunately, she could no longer continue, thus her eyes closed completely before she fell forward and passed out. Unown rose back up and returned to his normal form, breathing heavily with terror still in his expression. But Drizzile did not notice this. All he could see right now was Drednaw's current condition. Despite his words having some effect on her, she had still lost.

Either way, Tori soon reached ten seconds and rang the bell before she exclaimed, "And after, god, probably the most intense match so far, Unown has won the match and will face Drizzile in the semi-finals!" the Mexican crowd going wild as Unown's fear left him. Thus he implied a big smile with his eye and held his arms in the air.

He then turned to face Drizzile and said, "I look forward to our match in three days," blinking his eye in a way that implied a wink. Needless to say, the chameleon's fear was at its peak while he thought, 'No, I'm not supposed to be scared anymore. What's wrong with me?'

Rillaboom could see it and understood perfectly. After all, this was exactly how she felt about facing Melmetal. All she could do was hope that by the time their match came, he could move past it.

"Oh god, that letter guy is scary," Bailey whimpered while she hugged herself and trembled, Geneva nodding and replying, "Yeah, but Drizzile will totally beat the shit out of him. Right?" Allie resting a hand on his shoulder with a sweet smile. And while this calmed his nerves a little bit, he would need more than a little reassurance.

Though for now, he had to put his efforts into supporting his friends. And he suddenly remembered this when Shaymin squealed, "That sure was a spectacle, but we got two more matches to go! Our next one will take place at the Edmonton West Soccer Centre!"

Scorbunny's eyes sparkled as she squealed, "I get to fight in a Football centre!? That's so cool!" Though most of all, it gave her a great idea for her next entrance.

Drizzile took a deep breath and smiled before getting up to join her. Right now, cheering for her was far more important than dreading his next match. But even so, he really hoped he would stand a chance against Unown. He could just tell this guy was worse than anyone else he had fought up to this point.


	33. Chapter 33

With Drednaw and Unown's match out of the way, everyone was on their way to the Soccer Centre for Scorbunny's match with Rapidight. While the remaining competing heroes rode toward the area in a limo, the rabbit giggled with excitement while Rillaboom and Drizzile sat next to her. As much as Unown had frightened the chameleon, he had to forget about that and put all his efforts into cheering for his friend.

Once the group arrived, Scorbunny was ready to start her preparations. But just as she was about to head off to do that, Rillaboom patted her on the shoulder and asked, "You want some help?"

She was about to refuse, but then she tapped her chin and nodded, replying, "Yeah, I could use another awesome entrance."

During this time, Rolycoly headed toward the bleachers along with Allie and the others. All the while, he and Geneva had gotten into quite a heated discussion about their favourite past times. The more the golem talked to the redhead, the more he found himself getting along with her more than Morgrem, though a part of him felt a tad guilty about that.

Morgrem, on the other hand, grinned at this and whispered, "Isn't that just adorable?" Allie and Bailey turning before the tan girl uttered, "It kind of is," her eyes starting to wander before she shook her head and chuckled, "No, it couldn't possibly be like that."

"So you made those banners all by yourself," Geneva said, "That is really impressive," the golem replying, "No, no, Morgrem took care of the letters. I just painted the background."

"Still," the redhead replied, "That is some real talent," only for Rolycoly to bite his lower lip and let out an uncomfortable mouth noise. Geneva stared awkwardly at him and uttered, "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Um, well, it's nothing too major," the golem uttered, "It's just that, well, calling my artistry a talent implies that I didn't have to work towards it," Geneva gasping and clasping her hands over her mouth until he waved his hands in front of his face and protested, "Not that I find it offensive or anything! I mean, most artists do, but, uh, well..."

A part of him really did not wish to ruin this moment, but Geneva could tell that she really had hurt his feelings. As such, she smiled and gave him a hug from behind, saying, "Sorry. I forgot there was a difference between talent and skill."

The golem breathed a sigh of relief and smiled softly. After all, Geneva was one of the few human friends he had and he did not wish to ruin it with something as trivial as pride.

"By the way, I've actually thought of writing my own novel someday," the redhead said with a smile, "I was wondering if maybe you could help me out with that, maybe make some beautiful illustrations for it," Rolycoly's eyes sparkling as he uttered, "Oh my god. That would be an honour."

Allie overheard this and smiled sweetly. Now Bailey could not help but wonder if what she had thought earlier was accurate or not. It certainly seemed so.

Either way, time passed until everyone headed to the indoor field itself. Sure enough, the bleachers were filled as Shaymin and Tori sat behind a podium, the hedgehog exclaiming, "Well, folks, it's been a very exciting first half, but we still got a second one to look forward to! This one certainly promises to be quite something to behold!"

She then pointed to the right and squealed, "In the red corner, coming to us from England is that spirited young rabbit with flames that could rival that of a dragon! She managed to expose and defeat Hatterene with only one strike, technically speaking, and she comes to dazzle us more today! Give it up for Scorbunny!"

The British and Edmontonian crowd cheered wildly when the rabbit entered the area. Much like in the first round, she was dressed in a sports jersey as she waved to the crowd. However, it seemed she had more in mind when Rillaboom, still in the entrance way, hurled a fairly big rock that Drizzile had brought in from outside toward the rabbit.

Scorbunny smirked and leapt into the air, flipping herself three hundred and sixty degrees and kicking the rock upward. She then caught it with her foot like an actual soccer ball when it descended and kicked it up and down, surprisingly not taking any damage to her feet. Needless to say, the audience was truly impressed by this.

Drizzile and Rillaboom watched from the back before they turned to one-another and nodded with big smiles on their faces. And when Scorbunny kicked the rock behind her and delivered a roundhouse to send it back into the entrance, Rillaboom made sure to catch it before it could possibly damage anything. Needless to say, the audience was truly impressed by all of this.

The rabbit then propelled herself high into the air and landed against the mat with a look of confidence on her face. And with that, the cheers only got louder while Allie squealed, "Way to go, Scorbunny! That was awesome!"

Once the audience calmed down, Tori stated, "And in the blue corner, once again representing the USA is a mighty unicorn who's just as deadly as she is beautiful! Despite so much going against her, she managed to overcome Flapple's tactics and now she comes to grace us again today! Give a round of applause for Rapidight!"

The American crowd went wild when Rapidight galloped toward the ring on all fours much like before. However, this time, she was also dressed in a jersey and was dribbling a soccer ball. And once she closed in on the ring, she kicked the ball into the air and leapt up, balancing it on her horn and striking a pose in midair.

She then landed in the ring and tossed the ball to the side before she stood upright and removed her jersey. Ben gave her a round of applause and shouted, "Woo! That was awesome, Rapidight!" the unicorn smiling at him with a light blush on her cheeks.

Incineroar folded his arms and said, "I'm not sure who to root for this time," only for Ben to sigh, "You don't have to cheer for Rapidight on my account," before narrowing his eyelids and grunting, "Though it would be mighty appreciated," the tiger and Wurmple both tensing up and releasing nervous sweat.

Either way, Scorbunny jumped back and forth on one foot at a time and said, "I hope you're ready for this. I'm not holding back," Rapidight smirking and remarking, "I wouldn't want it any other way."

Shaymin examined the two before she nodded and squealed, "Alright, folks, the combatants are set! Let's begin!" and rang the bell.

Rapidight immediately raced toward Scorbunny. Once close enough, she sent a roundhouse toward the rabbit's side only for her to retaliate with one of her own. And since Scorbunny had also engulfed her foot in flames, this caused the unicorn more pain, thus she winced and retracted her leg.

The British fans cheered when she took full advantage of this and planted a hard kick into Rapidight's gut, sending her skidding backwards. But even so, the unicorn took a deep breath and raced toward the rabbit again, this time dashing to the side and aiming a sweep toward her from behind. Luckily, Scorbunny saw this coming and jumped up just in time to dodge it and flipped backwards three hundred and eighty degrees while she aimed her foot toward Rapidight's snout.

Unfortunately for her, though, Rapidight had seen this coming. Thus she tilted her forehead down just in time for Scorbunny's foot to strike the tip of her horn. Her friends winced as she cried out in pain, blood squirting out. And it only got worse when Rapidight flung her sideways into the turnbuckle.

Scorbunny had to admit that she felt slightly ashamed of herself. Here she was trying to come up with better strategies and yet she somehow failed to realize that the unicorn might be able to counter a move like that. And it only got worse when Rapidight took full advantage of this and raced toward her before she sent her knee hard into her gut.

The American fans went wild as the unicorn proceeded to lift the rabbit above her head, flip her upside-down and rest her head against her shoulder. She then fell backward and planted the back of the rabbit's head into the canvas before releasing her and rising back to her feet.

"After a good counter from Scorbunny, Rapidight seems to have this match in the bag," Shaymin stated, "Let's see what Scorbunny does about this."

The rabbit rubbed the back of her head and thought, 'No, I didn't train extra hard for this to happen. She's done a good job so far, but now it's my turn.'

With that in mind, she rose to her feet and took a deep breath. Now it was time to truly show how much of a strategist she could be. Thus when Rapidight raced toward her again, she waited until just the right moment before she leapt to the side and sent a roundhouse into her ribcage. She then propelled herself backward into the ropes and bounced off, her foot on fire when she rammed her heel into the unicorn's side and shouted, "BURNING ROCKET!"

Rapidight cried out in pain and skidded sideways while trying her hardest not to fall. The crowd was truly amazed by this as she smirked and said, "Not bad, but you're not the only one who's been preparing for this match. For the last couple of days, I've been developing a technique that'll prevent me from being knocked down."

With that in mind, she raced toward Scorbunny only for the rabbit to leap to the side, this time sending a roundhouse into her cheek. But while this dealt quite a bit of damage, Rapidight ignored it, lifted up her arm and latched onto the rabbit's ankle.

The American fans cheered when the unicorn shifted her knee right under the rabbit, lifted her up and rammed her back into it. Scorbunny cried out in pain and fell on her side, gritting her teeth and thinking, 'If she can ignore the force of my kicks, I can ignore her moves. She may be taller than me, but I'm tougher.'

As such, when she noticed Rapidight leap toward her with her knees pointed toward her ribcage, she quickly rolled to the side just in time for the unicorn to make contact with the canvas. The crowd gasped as a light tear formed in her eye and she tried her hardest to ignore just how much this had hurt her knees.

With Rapidight distracted, Scorbunny smirked and leapt toward her before planting her foot into her chest. The British fans cheered as Tori exclaimed, "This fight's just going back and forth with both fighters dishing out one blow after the next!"

Scorbunny backed away from Rapidight with a proud smile on her face. But of course, she knew this was far from over when the unicorn rose back to her feet and took a deep breath, Ben saying, "Man, she really has gotten better since she fought Vaporeon."

Incineroar nodded and replied, "Damn straight. Even so, that girlfriend of yours has got some major skill," the boy blushing bright and retorting, "She's not my girlfriend!" before resting his hand against his chin and sighing, "Yet."

Wurmple and Incineroar both stared at him awkwardly. They had not expected him to be that forward about his obvious feelings. But even so, this hardly mattered right now, thus they shrugged and turned back toward the ring.

Rapidight smirked and said, "Not bad, but you're not the only one who can come up with good strategies. Just because I was raised in a barn doesn't mean I'm dumb," thus she knelt down onto all fours and raced toward the rabbit with a pink and violet energy swirling around her horn.

Scorbunny knew exactly what was coming and bounced high into the air. However, her eyes widened when Rapidight smirked and performed a handstand. She then boosted herself up to the rabbit's level and pressed her legs up against her sides before she flipped her so her belly faced the canvas.

The American crowd's excitement grew more and more when Rapidight flipped herself over until she was mounted onto Scorbunny's back. She then took hold of her ears and pulled on them, causing the rabbit's back to bend while she gasped in pain. Soon enough, the rabbit's belly hit the mat hard as she coughed up blood, Rapidight yelling, "HORSEBACK DRIVER!"

Scorbunny's friends all stared in shock when Rapidight released her ears and leapt off of her. She then flipped her hair sideways and said, "Like I said, you're not the only one who can come up with good strategies."

Morgrem frowned and folded her arms, grunting, "I'm not too worried. Scorbunny's dealt with worse," Drizzile nodding and replying, "Yeah. I have no doubt she can get up from that."

Sure enough, Tori only managed to reach three seconds before Scorbunny rose back to her feet. However, she had barely any time to regain her senses when Rapidight leapt toward her and shouted, "FLYING CENTAUR!" ramming all four of her hooves repeatedly into her at a rapid pace.

Scorbunny coughed up even more blood while she attempted to grab Rapidight's ankles. Unfortunately, this prove futile when the unicorn propelled herself away from her and raced toward her again, ramming her elbow into her cheek.

Now Scorbunny's friends were truly worried. While they had seen Scorbunny recover from beatings like this before, it seemed as if Rapidight had found a way to truly dominate the match as the rabbit struggled to keep her eyes open.

'No, why can I hardly concentrate?' she thought, 'Centiskorch was way worse than this, so why do I feel so weak?'

Rapidight smirked and thought, 'Don't underestimate me because of my build. I may look weaker than you, but like I said, I was raised in a barn. I've built up so much strength from that alone.'

Since Scorbunny was still too dazed to fight back, Rapidight took full advantage of this and dealt a flying kick to her forehead. She then latched her legs onto her neck and leaned backward, placing her arm hooves against the canvas. Finally, the unicorn lifted Scorbunny and planted her skull into the canvas.

The American fans went wild while everyone else stared with concern. While Scorbunny had managed to rise back to her feet, her head was still spinning. As such, Rapidight took a deep breath and thought, 'I'll admit, it's been fun, but I think it's time to end this.'

She went down on all fours while a pink and violet energy circled her horn. At that moment, Scorbunny frowned and thought, 'No, I have to advance! This is my chance to face Rillaboom in front of a big crowd and I'm not gonna lose that! Besides, my father didn't raise a quitter!'

Sure enough, just as Rapidight closed in and spat, "MYSTICAL JAB!" Scorbunny leapt backward into the air and flipped three hundred and sixty degrees.

The crowd gasped as Shaymin squealed, "Wow, what a turnaround! Not only does Scorbunny dodge the incoming stab, but now she's riding Rapidight like a regular horse!"

As surprising as it was, the rabbit had managed to pull off just that. After she leapt over Rapidight, she mounted herself into her back and took hold of her ears. But this was only a set up for her to light her feet on fire and propel herself off of the unicorn's back, aiming her heels right at the back of her neck.

"BUNNY BLAZE KICK!" Scorbunny barked before she planted the heels into the exact spot she had aimed at. All but the American crowd cheered wildly when Rapidight coughed up blood, her eyes and mouth wide with shock while she fell chin-first into the canvas.

Rillaboom, Rolycoly and Bailey stared in stunned silence while Morgrem folded her arms and said, "I figured as much. She took multiple strikes from my blade. She can handle anything."

Scorbunny panted heavily and gazed down at Rapidight while Tori started the ten count. The rabbit had a feeling that strike would not be enough to end the match for good. And the American crowd seemed to think so when they started to cheer for their representative.

"Come on, Rapidight!" Ben exclaimed, "You can still win! Get up!" the unicorn's ear twitching and her eye slowly starting to open.

All went silent while she pressed her arm hooves against the mat and shook them while pushing herself up slightly, Tori having now reached eight seconds. But just as it seemed like Rapidight would be able to continue, she released one last cough, closed her eyes and collapsed.

Once Tori counted to ten, she rang the bell and exclaimed, "And that's that, folks! After a hard match, Scorbunny has won and will move onto the semi-finals!"

After a few seconds, the British and Edmontonian fans all cheered and applauded Scorbunny while she stood there in shock. She continued to breathe heavily and think, 'Really? I actually did it?' a smile crossing her face before she rose her arms triumphantly into the air.

"Way to go!" Rillaboom shouted with her fist up, Drizzile sighing with relief and saying, "Yep, you were right, Morgrem. Though that was a lot closer than it should have been."

Either way, the rabbit was ready to take a good long rest when she suddenly remembered one last thing. She blinked and turned to face Rapidight to make sure the unicorn was okay. After all, the last thing she wanted was to hospitalize a fellow hero.

Of course, Ben was equally concerned, thus he rose up from his seat and leapt from the edge of one seat to the next. And once he reached the bottom, he sprinted toward the ring and jumped into it, kneeling down next to Rapidight and asking, "Hey, Rapidight, you okay?"

The unicorn slowly opened her eyes again and smiled sweetly at him. She then held up her hoof and took hold of his hand, chuckling, "I'm fine. I should be up and at it soon."

Scorbunny breathed a sigh of relief before Rapidight turned to face her and said, "That was awesome, Scorbunny," a grin on her face, "You damn well better not lose after a victory like that."

The rabbit smiled and nodded her head with her arms folded. Although despite the fact that Rapidight was conscious, she was still unable to move her body. As such, Ben helped her up onto his shoulders and carried her out of the ring. But just as he was about to leave, he turned to face Scorbunny and nodded his head with a smile.

At that exact moment, Scorbunny's friends entered the ring to congratulate her only for Rillaboom to briefly turn to face Melmetal. The cyborg sat in the back row with his arms folded, and while his eye implied that he was excited for their match, she still felt bad vibes from him. She knew she would need to up her game if she was to succeed where Vaporeon failed.

"Well, folks, that was certainly a very intense match!" Shaymin squealed, "I was on the edge of my seat! But of course, we still have one to go, and this one will take place in Northlands Coliseum!"

"So we're going to a normal location this time," Allie uttered as Rolycoly sighed, "All that matters to me right now is that we support Rillaboom. If anyone can beat Melmetal, it's her."

The others nodded in agreement, the gorilla smiling and thinking, 'Yeah, that's right. That hunk of metal may be scary, but I've seen what he can do. I'm ready for whatever he can dish out.'


	34. Chapter 34

After a long second round, it was almost time for Rillaboom to face Melmetal. Currently, everyone was on their way to Northlands Coliseum, though Ben had decided to stay with Rapidight at a local hospital. While Scorbunny may not have knocked her unconscious, she had dealt enough damage for medical treatment to be necessary.

Even so, while she and the others road in their assigned limo, a part of her did feel a twinge of guilt now as she bit her lower lip and whimpered, "I hope she's okay. It didn't seem that bad when she left the area," Rillaboom patting her on the shoulder and replying, "From what I can gather, this sort of thing is to be expected. At least she's still conscious," glaring at Melmetal who was seated far away from the trio.

"That's right," Drizzile uttered, suddenly remembering that he would have to face Unown soon, "Rillaboom, if there's anything we can do to help you prepare for this match, we'll do it."

The gorilla smiled and replied, "Thanks for the offer, but I feel like I should do this on my own. This is the first time I've entered a match with complete knowledge of what my opponent's capable of. I should be fine."

Both Drizzile and Scorbunny lowered their eyelids. After what they had been through up to this point, they felt like this might have been too big of a risk. And when Rillaboom saw this, she sighed, "Really, guys, it's fine. Besides, you've both exhausted yourselves today."

Her friends continued to stare at her for a few more seconds before Drizzile sighed, "Alright, you seem to know what you're doing," Scorbunny nodding and adding, "Besides, you're the only one of us who hasn't lost an official match since we turned good. Yeah, you got this."

Rillaboom smiled at the two and breathed a sigh of relief. While she had not figured out any other techniques that she could use with her hair, after all of her training, she felt beyond confident. Although there was another reason she had declined their offer, but what?

Whatever the case, the group soon arrived at the coliseum shortly before everyone else. Rillaboom waved to the others and went on ahead to train while they waved back. And it was not long until their friends showed up, Rolycoly and Geneva exiting ahead of Morgrem who grinned at the two.

When they all spotted Scorbunny and Drizzile, they smiled and approached them, Bailey squealing, "I know I said it before we left, but oh my god, your were amazing, Scorbunny!" the rabbit chuckling, "Well, I have had plenty of experience."

Allie nodded and said, "And just think, if Rillaboom wins this match, you two will face off in the semis," Scorbunny nodding and replying, "Hell yeah. I can't wait for that! I've already dominated her once, but not in front of a crowd."

At that moment, the group noticed a certain monkey and her husband walk by. Just as they were about to enter the building, Thwackey turned and smiled, saying, "Oh, you're Rillaboom's friends."

The group nodded before they approached the two, Drizzile suddenly feeling tense. This was his first time ever meeting people related to either Rillaboom or Scorbunny and the last thing he wanted was to leave a bad impression. However, he calmed down when Allie patted him on the shoulder and said, "A pleasure to meet you. I'm Allie."

Morgrem bowed to Thwackey and Obasi before she said, "Hello. I am Morgrem, and this is my BFF, Rolycoly," pointing to the golem who smiled and waved his fingers.

Obasi nodded and replied, "Oh, yes, Rillaboom's told us a lot about you. Apparently, you used to be in the same boat she was," Morgrem and Rolycoly grinning nervously at one-another before Thwackey noticed Geneva and Bailey staring at her.

She could not help but stare awkwardly until they squealed, "Oh my god, you're Rillaboom's mom!" the monkey chuckling, "Yes, I am."

She then turned to face Scorbunny and Drizzile before she bowed her head and said, "And I know full well who the two of you are. Thank you so much for giving my daughter companionship. I mean, I don't exactly approve of you feeding into her desire for vengeance, but I guess it made sense at the time."

Drizzile chuckled nervously and uttered, "Yeah, of course," though deep down, he really wished she had not brought that up. Even so, Scorbunny happily shook her hand and squealed, "It is so nice to meet you! Oh, I wish my father was here right now!"

"Oh, yes, Cinderace, right?" Thwackey replied, "He was a legend back in the day," before sighing, "Makes me wish I had entered Hero School so I could become a legend too. Maybe then I wouldn't have had to steal to survive."

Scorbunny blinked and uttered, "Wait, how did you know-?" the monkey chuckling, "You look very similar, so I put two and two together," Drizzile enquiring, "So does that mean you know my mother, too?"

Obasi blinked and turned to Thwackey who shrugged her shoulders before the chameleon explained, "Well, her name's Inteleon," the monkey nodding and replying, "Yes, I have heard of her. You have her power to manipulate water. I can't believe I didn't notice."

Obasi nodded and said, "Well, it was wonderful meeting all of you, but we'd like to have a word with our daughter before her match if you don't mind."

The others nodded in understanding and gave them a nice goodbye. Needless to say, Thwackey was happy to know that her daughter had such nice friends. And the others were certainly glad to have met her and Obasi in person.

Rillaboom was hard at work in a training room where she sent an onslaught of punches into a sandbag. She then whipped her vine around the top and used it to lift the bag into the air. She then leapt up, wrapped her arms and legs around it and flipped backward multiple times, barking, "VINE BOULDER SLAM!" ramming it into the floor and causing its top to burst open.

"OH YEAH!" Rillaboom cried with her fists raised in triumph, "Melmetal won't know what hit him!" her eyes wide open when she heard a familiar voice say, "Good job, honey."

She turned and saw her parents there and grinned. Both then approached her and gave her a quick hug before Obasi said, "I can see you're coming up with new skills to use with that vine."

"Well, it's not too hard coming up with new skills," Rillaboom replied, "Still, I just know this'll make things so much easier."

She then rubbed the back of her neck and added, "Thanks for being here, you know, to cheer me on," Obasi laughing, "As if we'd miss our little girl's match!" Thwackey uttering, "Still, though, we will have to return to Kenya tomorrow. Our vacation time's almost up."

"In that case, I'll make this match especially memorable," Rillaboom replied before all three held each other in a tight embrace, this one longer than the first one. While Rillaboom had not been entirely certain of her chances before, now there was no way she would lose.

Time passed until everyone was seated, Thwackey and Obasi having just entered the area. Shaymin and Tori were both more than ready to begin when the hedgehog stated, "We have had quite a round so far, but we still have one last match to go! And I gotta say, this one's especially exciting!"

Tori nodded before she pointed to the eastern side and announced, "In the red corner, coming to us from Kenya is the mighty gorilla who defeated Wooloo! With brains and brawn, Rillaboom!"

The African fans cheered wildly when Rillaboom marched toward the ring. However, this time she took things a step further and had a bongo drum she had made herself strapped to her chest. She beat against it in sync with a military theme that played in the background, moving her feet in time as well.

Scorbunny stared and uttered, "Wow, that's so professional," Drizzile nodding and replying, "Maybe I should ask her to make me an instrument for my next entrance. I've never really been good at playing one, but I could try."

"You could just ask her to play it for you while you approach the ring," Allie replied, the chameleon sighing, "Yeah, that's probably a much better idea."

Needless to say, her parents could not have been happier as they gave her a round of applause. Obasi whistled to her while Thwackey held up her sticks and clicked them together to create her own melody.

Once Rillaboom entered the ring, she held up the drum and hurled it toward the African crowd like a frisbee. A teenaged girl in the front row grabbed it, her eyes sparkling as she uttered, "I've just found my new calling," her mother chuckling, "Hopefully you won't give up on this one."

Once the crowd seemed to calm down, Shaymin pointed to the western side and squealed, "In the blue corner representing Russia is a powerful metal warrior! He defeated Vaporeon and I can only imagine how much Rillaboom wants vengeance! But for all we know, he might just be able to prevent that! Give it up for Melmetal!"

It seemed that much like the others, Melmetal had chosen to take things a step further. The Russian crowd watched with big smiles when he rode toward the ring on a motorcycle. Morgrem simply waved her hand dismissively at this and scoffed, "Big deal. His motorcycle isn't sentient," Rolycoly adding, "Yeah!" before turning to her and barking, "Hey!"

Once the cyborg was close enough to the ring, he jumped off of the vehicle and landed hard against the canvas before forming fingers on his hands and flashing two peace signs toward the crowd. Needless to say, the Russian fans were even more excited than before while Rillaboom folded her arms and thought, 'Big deal. That entrance won't mean a thing when I wipe the mat with you.'

While Melmetal still gave off bad vibes, he no longer intimidated her. If anything, she was far more determined to win this match than ever before. He may have seemed reasonable compared to most other contestants, but there was just something about him that made Rillaboom feel like she had to defeat him at all cost.

But just as she was calculating a strategy in her mind, she blinked when he held out his hand and said, "Here's to a great match," implying a smile with his eye.

Rillaboom frowned while one Russian fan said, "Wow, what a poor sport!" another exclaiming, "Yeah, Vaporeon had no problem showing respect! I guess it's too much to expect a former villain to be civilized!" many others jeering her while she tensed up, Thwackey frowning at them.

However, Melmetal simply held up his hand toward them and barked, "That's enough!" The Russian fans stared at him while he added, "She has every right to be upset with me!"

For some reason, these words brought back Rillaboom's fear of him while he sighed, "Even though I didn't mean to, I did go overboard against Vaporeon. I imagine you probably want nothing more than for me to pay for my actions. I understand, but just know that I'm not going to make it easy for you. I have a country to represent. You understand, right?"

Rillaboom simply nodded as she saw no need to argue with him. And this seemed good enough when he implied a smile and sighed, "Thank you for being so understanding," the Russian crowd figuring perhaps they had been too hard on Rillaboom. But while Melmetal had taken some of the pressure off, the gorilla could not help but feel as if this was an act. Regardless, all that mattered to her was winning the match, so it hardly seemed all that important whether he was sincere or not.

Once both stood on separate sides of the ring, Shaymin nodded and squealed, "Well, folks, it looks like the fighters are ready and raring to go! Let's begin!" ringing the bell before both fighters struck fighting poses. However, neither one advanced forward.

Rillaboom knew she would need to think logically about this. While Vaporeon had gotten an early lead, she was much faster and capable of pulling off such a thing. Besides, she had a feeling Melmetal would not allow her to get in the first hit.

After a few seconds, Melmetal narrowed his eye and said, "If you're not gonna make the first move, then I will," stretching his arm out like rubber and aiming the hexagonal nut on his hand toward Rillaboom.

The gorilla smirked and thought, 'Perfect,' but just as she was about to block his hand, her eyes widened when he arched his forearm upward and planted his nut into her face.

The Russian crowd cheered when Melmetal implied a smirk and said, "Nice try, but I learned all I need to from your match with Wooloo."

He then formed his fingers, only this time they were pointy and resembled picks. Before the gorilla could even process this, he planted the tips into her face and exclaimed, "LIQUID METAL ICE PICK!"

Blood squirted out while most of the crowd could not help but wince. Thwackey watched in horror while Obasi spat, "Oh, come on, how long has he been able to do that!?"

Melmetal kept a firm grip on her and lifted her up off the mat, stating, "I could tell from your match with Wooloo that while you may not always make the right decisions during matches, you're still a good strategist. So it only stands to reason that I should go out of my way to one up you. It's why I specifically chose to save this ability for this match."

But while Rillaboom had been spellbound at first, she could not let this get to her. As such, she smirked and grunted, "Wow, I'm touched," forming her barrels around her wrists before spikes formed around them. She then grabbed onto his hand, jabbed the spikes into it and shouted, "THORN BARREL SUPLEX!"

Melmetal's eye widened when she managed to lift him up. This allowed her to land back onto the mat, lean backward and plant the cyborg's head into the surface. The African fans cheered wildly after she released her hold on him and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nice try, but something you should know is that I tend to do my best after my opponents hit me," Rillaboom stated with a smirk. However, her smirk turned into a frown when Melmetal flipped himself back to his feet and turned to face her.

Looking her over, he could see what she meant. After all, her physique was impressive, so it only stood to reason that she could handle a great deal of pain. With that in mind, Melmetal narrowed his eye and stretched his right arm toward her.

This time, Rillaboom was completely prepared, thus she grabbed his wrist once it was close enough. However, her eyes widened when she suddenly noticed he had sent his left hand toward her as well. But rather than simply striking her, he shifted his forearm behind her back, formed his sharp fingers and planted them into her, yelling, "LIQUID METAL ICE PICK!"

Even the Russian crowd was surprised by this tactic, and things only got worse when Melmetal pulled the gorilla toward him and barked, "LIQUID METAL STALAGMITE!"

Before Rillaboom had a chance to come up with a counter, she was right up against his chest as he had his metal seep into the nut in his midsection. Sure enough, he formed a long spike and sent it into the gorilla's gut. He then leapt into the air and flipped her over, saying, "You know, both the legendary Lucario and his son Jackalu had a move just like this," before shouting, "STALAGMITE BEARHUG DRIVER!"

The Russian fans went wild when Rillaboom's skull hit the canvas hard. And all the while, her friends and parents stared in horror. While the gorilla had performed an impressive counter early on, it seemed as if Melmetal already had this match in the bag. Sure, it was not as if the gorilla had never started a match at a disadvantage. She probably started more matches like this, but she had mentally and physically prepared herself so much for this one.

"Things are not looking good for Rillaboom," Shaymin stated, "That piledriver looked especially bad. Let's see if she can get up from this."

Drizzile tensed up and uttered, "There's no way that's it. She's taken worse than that, right?" Rolycoly uttering, "I dunno. I may have dealt a lot of hits to her, but they weren't that powerful."

However, while Thwackey was mortified at first, she took a deep breath and thought, 'No, I'm certain our daughter can overcome this. I can already see a surefire way to turn this in her favour. I'm sure she's already figured it out.'

And it seemed so when Rillaboom smirked and said, "I'll admit, I definitely wasn't expecting that," Melmetal tensing up when she suddenly wrapped her arms and extended her hair vine around his lower body, "But I can handle this."

The African fans watched in amazement when she propelled herself and Melmetal into the air. She then used all her might to flip him over, her wrist spikes once again planted into him. Soon enough, the cyborg's skull made contact with the mat before Rillaboom barked, "REVERSE VINE PILEDRIVER!" her legs wrapped around the bottom of his head.

The gorilla released her hold and allowed Melmetal to collapse while more cheers erupted throughout the area, Scorbunny squealing, "Way to go, Rillaboom!" Drizzile sighing, "I knew there was no way this match could possibly end that early."

Allie nodded with a sweet smile before Thwackey barked, "Alright, he's down! Take advantage of that!" Rillaboom nodded with a confident smile and leapt into the air. She then formed her hammerheads and sent them both into Melmetal's gut before she barked, "WOOD HAMMER!"

Melmetal's eye widened briefly, but just as Rillaboom was about to distance herself from him, he narrowed his eye and sent a hard punch into her chin. Her eyes and mouth were wide with terror as he formed his fingers once again and clasped onto her face. He then used her as leverage to pull himself up and grunted, "Not bad, but you're not the only one who can handle a lot of pain. After all, I am made of metal."

Rillaboom released nervous sweat but quickly took a deep breath and frowned. She then whipped out her vine and latched it to his wrist, tightening her hold on it. Unfortunately, this proved ineffective when Melmetal showed no reaction, once again sharpened his fingers and pierced her flesh. He then reeled her in and sent a hard punch into her gut, spinning his nut and barking, "HARD BUZZ SAW!"

Due to a lack of spikes on his fists, this did not cut her open, but much like when Rolycoly used a similar move on her, it left a bad scrape on her flesh. Rillaboom gritted her teeth and rammed her hammerheads into the sides of his head, but he once again ignored the pain and lifted her up before he slammed her chin into the canvas.

The crowd gasped as he leapt high into the air, his body gurgling while he sighed, "It really is a shame. I didn't think I'd be able to end this match so soon, but again, I have a country to represent."

The Russian fans knew exactly what was coming and cheered while his body inflated like a balloon. The others all stared in horror and wished they could do something to help. After all, this was the same move that defeated Vaporeon.

"LIQUID IRON PRESS!" the cyborg shouted before he descended toward Rillaboom. Thwackey shook her head and Obasi gritted his teeth. All the while, Drizzile covered his eyes and trembled while Scorbunny clenched her fists and bit her lower lip, the others equally concerned.

Rillaboom closed her eyes tight and gritted her teeth, a great deal of shame deep inside. After all, she had entered the match with so much confidence and yet she had lasted even less time than Vaporeon. However, after a few seconds, she started to hear talking amongst the crowd and felt nothing against her back.

"Oh my god!" Shaymin exclaimed with her jaw dropped, "It's a true miracle, but Rillaboom's hair has just guarded her from Melmetal's finisher!" the gorilla's eyes and mouth wide with shock as she slowly turned her head around just far enough to see what she meant.

Thwackey's jaw was dropped while Obasi smiled and released a small tear. Her friends also stared for it was just as Shaymin said. Rillaboom's hair had just hardened and now resembled an actual thorn bush. And while this did not put any holes in Melmetal, it had proven just enough to keep him from crushing her.

When Rillaboom saw just how distracted he was, she smirked and exclaimed, "ROSE BUSH CATAPULT!" flipping her hair forward and launching the cyborg into the air. She then propelled herself up to his level, took hold of him and barked, "BOULDER BASH!" before flipping one hundred and eighty degrees and ramming his skull into the canvas.

The majority of the crowd went wild while Tori exclaimed, "And in a shocking turn of events, Rillaboom not only prevents herself from taking in damage with her hair, but she also lands a move I don't think anyone thought she'd use again! Seems this match is still far from over!"

Thwackey embraced Obasi and shouted, "She did it! She actually did it!" shaking him by the shoulders while he chuckled, "Yeah, she really did."

"That was amazing," Bailey uttered before Geneva and Allie nodded, Scorbunny blinking and saying, "You know, in hindsight, I'm surprised it never occurred to me that she might be able to do something like that."

Drizzile nodded and replied, "I always wondered why her hair looked so spiky. I guess now we know," before he yelled, "Way to go, Rillaboom! Keep it up!"

The others shouted their own words of encouragement while Rillaboom released a light tear and thought, 'Yes, I don't know how, but I've finally figured out my grass powers. I'll need to practise with this once the match is over, but at least I can still fight.'

Though it was just as Tori said. Despite such an impressive comeback, the match was not over, and it showed when Melmetal deflated his body and flipped himself back onto his feet. He took many deep breaths and turned to face Rillaboom with a blank look in his eye. Thankfully, the gorilla was no longer intimidated by him. Now there was no doubt in her mind that she could win.


	35. Chapter 35

While things had looked bad for Rillaboom at first, now she was absolutely sure that she could defeat Melmetal. It was a very close call, but she had finally discovered the one ability with her hair that she had been unable to figure out. And while she did not have enough knowledge to use it at will a second time, she would not allow herself to fall victim to another powerful strike.

Melmetal implied a smile with his eye and said, "Wow, that was amazing. I would have been so disappointed if the match had just ended like that. Good to know you still got fight in you."

'Yeah, keep up that positive attitude for now,' Rillaboom thought with a frown, 'You won't be so happy when I take you down. Vaporeon, this is for you.'

The others felt equally confident, Rolycoly breathing a sigh of relief and saying, "I knew she'd be okay," Morgrem and Geneva both giving him an awkward glance.

Melmetal stretched out his arms and aimed his fists right at Rillaboom only for her to fold her arms in front of her face and block them with her wrist barrels. She then proceeded to latch onto his wrists and reel him in before she rammed her forehead into his face.

The cyborg backed up before she formed her hammerheads and barked, "WOOD HAMMER!" ramming her left hand into his skull and the right hand into the side of his head. She kept at it, whacking him multiple times. After all he had pulled off before, she could not allow him a chance to fight back, not at this point.

All the while, the majority of the crowd cheered wildly while Tori stated, "And Rillaboom refuses to give Melmetal a break! It seems that after all that torment she took in earlier, she knows better than to hold back against such a mighty foe!"

Just as Rillaboom was about to deliver a thirteenth strike to Melmetal, though, he spun his right nut and held it up in front of the incoming hammerhead, shouting, "HARD BUZZ SAW!" Fortunately, the gorilla saw this coming and redirected her hammer in front of her face and forward into his hand.

The crowd gasped, Melmetal's eye wide with terror when the hit proved powerful enough to force his own hand backward into his face. As such, he ultimately fell victim to his own attack and backed away from Rillaboom, breathing heavily and thinking, 'Oh, come on! She wasn't nearly this good before! Where did this level of skill come from!?' though he tried his hardest to hide his frustration.

But before he could come up with a countermeasure, Rillaboom saw an opportunity and wrapped her arms around him. She knew she would need to connect her next move quickly before he unleashed his Liquid Metal Stalagmite. As such, she whipped her vine around his neck and leapt into the air, wrapping her legs around his.

Melmetal's eye was wide with terror while she flipped backward multiple times. Sure enough, the top of his head hit the canvas hard before Rillaboom barked, "VINE BOULDER SLAM!"

More and more cheers emanated through the area while Thwackey and Obasi both grinned, glad to see their daughter able to use this on an actual opponent. All the while, Scorbunny and Drizzile both stared in amazement along with the others. They already knew Rillaboom was amazing, but she had never been able to pull off something that incredible before.

However, Melmetal now realized just how much of a threat Rillaboom really was. As such, he could not allow her to release her hold on him. So when she was just about to release him, he implied a frown with his eye and barked, "LIQUID METAL STALAGMITE!"

Rillaboom's eyes and mouth widened when his spike once again protruded from him and stabbed her in the gut. And before she could even attempt to retaliate, Melmetal gazed blankly into her eye and uttered, "Don't think you've actually won. This is only the beginning."

The gorilla's fear that she had spent this whole time trying to overcome returned at this exact moment. As such, she tensed up as Melmetal's body started to wobble and churn again. After a few seconds, various parts of him shot forward as he yelled, "LIQUID METAL MACHINE GUN!"

Unlike the metal on his belly, the rest of it was not pointed but rather each protrusion had a rounded edge to it. Nevertheless, this was still painful as they jutted out rapidly and pounded away into Rillaboom's flesh at a rapid speed. After ten seconds, Melmetal ended his assault and removed his spike, allowing the gorilla to back up while small streams of smoke rose from the indents his barrage had left on her body.

"Oh, come on!" Scorbunny groaned, pulling down on her ears, "She was so close!" Morgrem uttering, "Hey, it's okay. She's not down for the count or anything, right?"

"And Melmetal continues to amaze us more and more!" Shaymin squeaked, "Just when we think we've seen all he can dish out, he shows off yet another move his liquid metal can perform! It's amazing Rillaboom can still stand after that!"

'It really is,' Rillaboom thought with a look of terror in her expression, blood trickling from the hole in her gut, 'I can see why Vaporeon lost to this guy. He already looks powerful enough, but he keeps coming up with one new move after the next.'

The gorilla realized she would need to act fast, though, when Melmetal once again inflated his body like a balloon. Everyone stared in confusion as Drizzile groaned, "Of course he can do that."

As if this was not enough, Melmetal proceeded to form the same protrusions from earlier all over his body before he rolled toward Rillaboom and shouted, "JACK MARBLE!" Sure enough, Rillaboom was unable to react in time to avoid taking a strike to her front side, coughing up blood and flying backward into the turnbuckle.

The Russian fans cheered while everyone else watched with concern. Rillaboom trembled and thought, 'No, I can't lose, not when I've come so far. If I can figure out how I sharpened my hair like that, I can counter this move,' and she would certainly need to think fast for Melmetal was still rolling toward her.

Once he got close, she frowned and leapt to the right just in time for him to ram into the turnbuckle. But unfortunately, he easily ignored this and continued to roll toward her while she focused as hard as she could, thinking, 'Come on, work! Do what you did before!'

When she saw Melmetal headed toward her again, she narrowly managed to leap out of the way only for him to hit the ropes and bounce off toward her. And unfortunately, Rillaboom did not have as much time to react, thus she took a strike to her back, unable to sharpen her hair in time to prevent herself from taking in damage.

Melmetal finally stopped rolling before he took a deep breath and said, "I'll admit, you really are as great as I'd heard. But I think it's time for this match to come to an end, don't you?" the gorilla thinking, 'Come on! I'm so close!'

Scorbunny bit her lower lip and spat, "Come on, Rillaboom, you can still win!" Drizzile adding, "You've been preparing so hard for this! Don't give up now!"

Thwackey, meanwhile, took a deep breath and snapped, "Rillaboom, try not to over think your tactics!" the gorilla's eyes wide with shock, "If you try too hard, that power you used earlier won't come back to you! You mastered all of your other abilities because you just let them happen! Do the same here and you'll be fine!"

Rillaboom's eyes widened as Melmetal backed up slightly and inflated his body once again. And like before, he formed the protrusions all around his body and exclaimed, "JACK MARBLE!" once again rolling toward her.

However, this time, Rillaboom felt ready when she took a deep breath. And sure enough, her hair managed to sharpen before she turned to face the cyborg and tucked in her arms and legs. She then rolled toward him and barked, "ROSE BUSH BOULDER!" ramming into him as both fighters clashed.

Sparks flew from Melmetal while each tried to overpower the other, the crowd cheering wildly as Shaymin squealed, "And with that, both seem to be evenly matched! No one knows where Rillaboom's new power came from, but it's given her another chance at victory!"

While the two fighters kept at it, Rolycoly uttered, "Oh my god, Rillaboom's amazing. I wouldn't stand a chance against her now," Morgrem uttering, "No kidding."

Allie and Drizzile's eyes sparkled while they shouted their own words of encouragement, Scorbunny barking, "You got him, Rillaboom! Keep it up!"

But while it seemed like the gorilla finally had the upper hand, her eyes widened when she started to breathe heavily. Sweat poured down her while she thought, 'No, I can't be tired, not yet,' but deep down, it made sense. While her onslaught earlier was great, she had lost blood and Melmetal had not.

Sure enough, he showed no signs of slowing down, and thus Rillaboom's hair returned to normal before she took in one final strike from Melmetal. She coughed up one last bit of blood and flew backward into the turnbuckle, her eyes closed as she lay limp against it, her arms spread out on the top ropes to prevent her from collapsing.

But while she was not exactly down, it was clear that she would not wake up anytime soon. Thwackey shook her head and uttered, "No," Obasi calling out to her, and while the monkey would certainly not stop her husband from giving his support, she could tell it was pointless.

"COME ON, RILLABOOM, GET UP!" Scorbunny cried, "You were so close! You can still win!" Drizzile adding, "Remember what he did to Vaporeon! Are you gonna let him get away with that!?"

"Remember the torment you took from me!" Rolycoly pleaded, "You dealt with all sorts of pain and still won!" Morgrem shouting, "You're the toughest fighter I know! You can take anything!"

Allie nodded and stood up from her seat, chanting, "Rillaboom! Rillaboom!" the others joining in. It was not long until the coliseum was filled to the brim with people crying out her name. And all the while, Tori had no idea how to go about this.

"Um, Shaymin," she whispered, "She's not moving but she's not exactly knocked down, either. How do I rule this?" the hedgehog looking at the clock on her phone and sighing, "Give her another twenty seconds."

Melmetal, all the while, folded his arms and sighed in a tone quiet enough for the crowd not to hear, "I'll give you this. You've got a lot of support here in Edmonton. Too bad it means nothing. Once I deal with your little friends and become world champion, my plan will be complete."

His eye widened when Rillaboom slowly started to open her eyes. She coughed up blood and pushed herself away from the ropes before she grunted, "What plan?" the crowd dead silent.

"What the hell are you plotting?" Rillaboom groaned only to cough up one last bit of blood, close her eyes and fall flat on her face. This was all Tori needed to see, thus she rang the bell and exclaimed, "After a very rough match, Melmetal is our winner! Therefor he will face Scorbunny in the semi-finals!"

Rillaboom's friends all stared in horror while even Thwackey looked disappointed. The fact that her daughter had managed to move at all was a true miracle, and for a second there, it seemed as if she might be able to get the upper hand back. But now it was too late.

But before the Russian fans could cheer, many of them noticed a look of terror on Melmetal's face. He breathed heavily while they simply could not believe that. He had never looked frightened before, after or during a match, not even when he fought evil.

However, he soon calmed down and rose his arms in the air, thus the Russians all shrugged and cheered for their representative. Scorbunny, meanwhile, narrowed her eyelids and growled, "Enjoy your victory for now. I'm gonna wipe that happy look off your face."

With all said and done, everyone was ready to head home, save for Rillaboom's friends who wanted to make sure she was okay. On top of that, they also wanted to visit Vaporeon and Corviknight at the hospital. But after that, there was no doubt Scorbunny and Drizzile would train extra hard. After all, both of their opponents were frightening and had the ability to morph their bodies.

Upon their arrival at the hospital, Rolycoly mostly stuck by Rillaboom along with her parents, Geneva joining him. After all, the gorilla was the first one to ever best him in combat, so he had deep respect for her. Morgrem also stood there and sighed, "I still can't believe it."

"I know," Rolycoly groaned, "It's bad enough that Vaporeon lost, but Rillaboom? She's never lost," uttering, "Well, since she turned good, anyway."

Thwackey sighed and smiled before she said, "Well, even though she lost, she did a really good job. I'm still proud of her for coming this far," Obasi adding, "Besides, it's not like she lost to a villain, right?" a nervous grin on his face.

"That's true," Geneva replied with a light smile, "Besides, I'm sure Scorbunny can kick Melmetal's butt. We'll just have to give her all the support we can."

The others nodded before Thwackey smiled and said, "It's really good to know that Rillaboom has such great friends. I wish we could be here to see her wake up, but it's great that you will be here when that happens."

Geneva blinked until the monkey added, "Oh, I guess Rillaboom didn't have a reason to tell you, but our vacation time ends really soon, so we're headed back tomorrow."

"Oh, man," Morgrem groaned, "And the last thing you got to witness here was your daughter's failure," only for Thwackey to chuckle, "Again, it's fine. We got to see her pull off many impressive feats and win her first match. But even if she had failed the sporting events and not made it to the tournament, just spending time with her was worth it."

All the while, Scorbunny, Drizzile, Allie and Bailey looked at Vaporeon with concern. The rabbit frowned and grunted, "You just lay here and take it easy. I'll make sure Melmetal goes down."

Drizzile nodded and added, "And I'll be sure to beat Unown, then Scorbunny and I can fight in the finals. I really hope you'll be awake for that."

After a few more minutes, everyone went to check up on Corviknight. Surprisingly, he was still unconscious, although the nurse told them he would only need a couple more days, meaning he might be able to catch Drizzile and Scorbunny's matches. Either way, they hoped he would recover soon.

And so, with all said and done, everyone returned home for the night. Once again, Scorbunny made dinner, though it felt wrong to make a whole meal for only two people. Even so, she tried her best to stay positive. If she thought too hard about Vaporeon and Rillaboom's condition, It would likely effect her training, and that was the last thing she wanted.

Sure enough, the following day was devoted to just that. Both Drizzile and Scorbunny went to separate locations to train for their upcoming matches. Specifically, the chameleon chose to stay home and train in the back yard while the rabbit went to Hawrelak Park again. Scorbunny had Rolycoly and Morgrem help her prepare along with Geneva while Drizzile had Allie and Bailey to give him support.

But after he delivered hundreds of palm punches to a sandbag, his eyes widened when he heard Allie utter, "What the hell?" As if that was not enough, he felt a tap on his shoulder right after she said that, thus he tensed up and slowly turned his head around.

However, his fear died down when he saw a tall chameleon standing right there. She folded her arms with a smile and asked, "Is that how you greet me after I came all this way? I thought I raised you better than that."

Allie and Bailey both stared before Drizzile gave Inteleon a hug and exclaimed, "It's so nice to see you, Mom!" the tall chameleon patting him on the back and replying, "Nice to see you, too."

It was not long until everyone had gone inside and introductions were out of the way. Needless to say, Allie was beyond ecstatic to finally meet Drizzile's mother. And of course, Inteleon was just as happy to meet her since she had been the one to give her son the push he needed to become great.

Bailey simply sat nervously on the couch with her face beet red. Despite the fact that she was friends with six heroes, it still felt amazing to be in the presence of another. But of course, Allie was used to this sort of thing by now, so she had been completely comfortable during the whole conversation.

"Well, I have to say, it is wonderful to finally meet you," Inteleon said with a big grin while looking at Allie, "I can't thank you enough for all your help," only for Allie to chuckle, "Oh no, all I did was give him words of encouragement."

"Not true," Drizzile remarked, "You also helped me work out," the tall girl nodding and replying, "Oh yeah, I did do that, didn't I?"

Inteleon smiled sweetly and turned to face Drizzile before she enquired, "So, do you remember why I've come?" the chameleon blinking and scratching the side of his head. But after a few seconds, he blinked, nodded and said, "Oh yeah, you're here to help me master that manoeuvre that I used to beat Sandaconda."

"Oh, right," Allie uttered, "I'd just about forgotten about that," Inteleon narrowing her eyelids and remarking, "You seriously forgot I was coming?"

Drizzile laughed nervously only for the tall chameleon to chuckle, "Relax, I'm kidding," punching him lightly on the shoulder, "I get it. A lot's happened since our phone call, not to mention your friend lost pretty badly yesterday."

The chameleon nodded and uttered, "By the way, I tried using the ability without your help, but I didn't really make any progress. Honestly, I'm starting to wonder how I even used it the first time," Inteleon sighing, "Well, you were blinded and deafened at the time, but don't worry. I can guarantee that by the time these next couple of days pass, you'll be ready."

Drizzile beamed bright along with Allie. Both were fully confident that Inteleon knew what she was doing. And of course, Bailey still could not muster up the courage to say anything.

And so, after the conversation, Inteleon took Drizzile all the way to the mountains, but only him. As much as it pained him to do this without Allie around, his mother told him that she would likely distract him from this particular training. And as much as it hurt the two teens to admit it, they felt like she had a point.

Inteleon looked around and said, "Yes, this is the perfect spot." She then turned to face Drizzile and added, "I hope you're ready for this. Once we start training this skill, you will run the risk of getting hurt pretty badly. Since you have hero DNA, you should be able to recover from this easily enough, but it's still dangerous. Are you sure you want to master this skill?"

Drizzile took a deep breath and looked at the rocks all around the area. He could tell exactly what his mother had planned, but he would not let this bother him. As such, he nodded with a serious look in his eyes. After all, ever since he became a hero, he had dealt with far worse.

As such, Inteleon gave him a light smile and said, "Good. The first thing you need to do is block out all sense of sight and hearing. Cutting off your sense of sight is easy enough. You just close your eyes. But hearing is another thing."

Drizzile blinked in confusion before she nodded and added, "That's what I thought. Luckily, our family can do that since we don't necessarily have ears, so to speak. Instead, we have microscopic holes. But did you know you can actually seal them up pretty easily?"

"I can?" the short chameleon enquired as Inteleon nodded and had him look closely while she sealed hers up. And so for the next little while, she taught him how to do just that.

Needless to say, this would not be easy, but Drizzile was fully confident that he could pull this off. He had to be ready for this. He was not sure why, but he had a feeling he would need this skill for his match with Unown.


	36. Chapter 36

It had been about an hour since Drizzile's training with Inteleon had started and while it took longer than expected, he had finally figured out how to close his ear holes. But of course, this was only the first step, and he knew he was in for something truly painful when Inteleon leapt over to a stone and picked it up with her tail.

"Now, son, this is your last chance," she stated, "Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this? It's not too late to back out."

While she may have said this twice, to Drizzile, it was too late. He had already gotten this far, he had used the ability once. There was no way he would just accept the idea that he would never be able to harness such power again.

With that in mind, he took a deep breath, gave his mother a serious look and said, "Yes, I'm sure. Now hurl that rock at me."

Inteleon nodded and said, "Remember, try not to think too hard about it. Just let it happen. Otherwise, it won't work," the chameleon taking a deep breath and closing his eyes and ear holes. But when the tall chameleon threw the stone at him, he sensed nothing and took a hard blow to his gut.

Inteleon clasped her hands over her mouth only for the chameleon to rise to his feet and grunt, "Let's try that again!" the tall chameleon staring at her son with her eyes wide open and thinking, 'Son...'

Soon, a big childlike smile formed before she placed her hands against her cheeks and thought, 'I'm so proud!' Drizzile tilting his head to the side and uttering, "Hello? Are you gonna throw another stone?"

All the while, Scorbunny sparred with Rolycoly and Morgrem at the same time while Geneva watched and cheered her on. But while the rabbit had managed to defeat the golem by himself, this time she found herself having a lot more trouble now that the duo was fighting together.

The goblin was currently mounted on Rolycoly's back while he sped toward the rabbit like a motorcycle. The rabbit leapt up into the air only for the golem to use his hands to propel himself and Morgrem into the air. The goblin then sharpened her hair before she and Rolycoly shouted, "GRIZZLY CHOPPER!"

Both of them spun like a twister and put a big gash in Scorbunny's belly. Thus she cried out in pain while blood flew from that very spot and fell hard on her back. And when the other two landed, they gasped at the sight of her covered in cuts and bruises.

"Oh my god!" Morgrem gasped, "Are you okay!?" Geneva blinking and uttering, "I think you guys might have gone a little overboard."

Scorbunny slowly pushed herself up and sighed, "No, it's fine. I'm a hero. We can handle stuff like this." She then looked down and groaned, "Though now I'm not so sure if I'm ready to face Melmetal."

"Hey, don't say that," Rolycoly remarked as he waved his hands in front of his face, "You just fought both of us at the same time. It's amazing you lasted as long as you did," Morgrem nodding and replying, "Believe you me, if you had fought me by myself, you would have won even more easily than you did when we first fought."

Scorbunny nodded with a light smile and replied, "Yeah, you're right," springing back to her feet as if all the pain dealt earlier meant nothing, "I'll just need to keep training!"

With that in mind, she got ready for another match only to breathe heavily and gasp, "After a little break," Morgrem and Rolycoly nodding in agreement.

During this time, Melmetal was at a construction site where he got ready for his match. He had a nearby worker use a crane to heave girders and other such things toward him. And whenever they got close, he would use his hexagonal nuts to leave huge dents in them. However, he did not feel as if this was enough, thinking, 'I hate to admit it, but Rillaboom came really close to overpowering me there! If I hadn't exhausted her so much earlier, she probably would have won! I can't let that happen! Don't worry, Dad, I'll make sure the whole world fears and respects us!'

Back at the mountains, Inteleon hurled another rock at Drizzile, this one striking him in the forehead. But once again, he got back up. After all, he dealt with far worse torment from Sandaconda before the ability worked. He was certain he could get this.

Unfortunately, Inteleon did not seem to think so anymore. She had expected faster results than this, much faster. As such, even Drizzile's strong spirit was no longer enough to convince her that this routine was worth it.

However, her eyes widened when she suddenly remembered back when she attempted the skill. When her father, Sobble, trained her, he did not use projectiles. He came at her himself and used his own attacks, figuring that was the only way to truly master the skill.

She then bit her lower lip as Drizzile uttered, "Mom, is something wrong? Did you run out of stones to throw?" the tall chameleon taking a deep breath and leaping backwards toward a big rock formation. She then covered her body in water and thought, 'Forgive me, son, but if you know what's coming, it won't come naturally.'

Finally, she boosted herself forward while the water morphed into a giant bullet. And when she got close, she shouted, "SNIPE SHOT!" Drizzile gasping and leaping to the side. And while he had taken a little too long, resulting in his side being grazed, he had still avoided a full frontal assault before tumbling along the ground and using his hand to screech to a halt.

The shorter chameleon breathed heavily with his eyes still closed. He could not believe that. He had felt it, and Inteleon could not have been more proud when she looked at him. But she also noticed his eyes were still closed. This combined with the fact that he had not completely avoided the move told her it was not yet time to end this.

With that in mind, she launched herself toward him, once again forming a bullet made of water around herself. Drizzile managed to leap over her this time, but he was still too late as he took in the blow to his feet and flipped forward. But when his face hit the ground, he pushed himself back up, thus Inteleon came at him one last time, and while he avoided the full attack again, he still took in pain to his side.

At that moment, Inteleon took a deep breath and approached him before tapping him on the shoulder. As such, he opened his eyes and opened his ear holes, the tall chameleon smiling and saying, "Well, it's not perfect, but you're able to pull it off. I am so proud of you right now."

Drizzile had the biggest smile on his face as he held his mother in a tight embrace. Even though he had not done quite as well as he had against Sandaconda, he had still managed to use the ability. Now all he needed was to practice a little bit more and he would be ready.

And so, Scorbunny and Drizzile trained even longer. The rabbit had another sparring match with Morgrem and Rolycoly, and while this one ended with all three tiring themselves out, she had put up a much better fight. And Drizzile continued to improve until he was able to dodge at least a couple of strikes from Inteleon.

After enough time passed, both chameleons sat cross-legged on the tip of a rock formation and looked out into the horizon. Inteleon smiled and rubbed her son's head before explaining, "There is one last thing you need to know before your match with Unown. While this ability is very good, it's not something you want to use for a long period of time. In fact, I can only recommend using it once for two minutes tops."

Drizzile blinked and enquired, "Does it require extra energy to use or something?" only for the tall chameleon to shake her head and reply, "Not quite. See, I don't really know why this is, but I've found that after a couple of minutes, this ability stops working for at least an hour's time. But not only does it stop working, but if you keep trying to use it, it can leave you feeling disoriented. I know because one time, I tried to use this move for three minutes and it caused me to lose the fight."

She looked back to when she had just mastered the skill. Her first fight after that was against a sentient seed dressed in a cloak made of leaves named Swadloon. Inteleon had started strong as she decided to use her evasive tactic right off the bat.

But sure enough, two minutes into the fight, she found herself unable to detect his movement. This allowed him to boost himself off the ropes and ram skull-first into her back with a move called Bullet Seed. This kept up for a while with Inteleon unable to dodge him. And sure enough, after three minutes, she could no longer keep her eyes and ear holes closed.

When she opened them up, she could feel her head spin while her eyes swirled. And this was all the seed needed to finish her off with the same move he had used before. As such, one of her allies had to finish what she started, but all that really mattered to her was how humiliating the whole experience had been.

Back in present time, Inteleon sighed, "No matter how tempting it is to try and exploit such an amazing skill, you must always save it as a last-minute resort when things get too tough. If you think there's no way you could win otherwise, that's when you dish it out."

Drizzile nodded and replied, "Alright. That's simple enough. I've done a fine job without it, so if things go well enough against Unown, I might not even need it."

Inteleon nodded with a big smile and latched onto his neck with her arm. She then gave him a noogie and squealed, "Oh, you are just the best son a mother could ask for!"

Another day passed by until it was time for the semi-finals to begin. As it so happened, Shaymin had liked the coliseum so much that she decided to use the location again. But while walking down the hall along with Tori, she grinned and giggled, "Oh, I can't wait until everyone sees what I have planned for these two matches."

"Oh my god, are you going to do something sadistic?" Tori groaned, Shaymin nodding before saying, "Apparently, they did this for the twenty second Hero Olympics, create a dangerous gimmick for each match to raise the stakes. For some reason, they haven't done that since, and I'm gonna rectify that."

Tori was about to object before she blinked and uttered, "Wait, you say they've done this sort of thing before?" Shaymin nodding and replying, "Yep. In fact, I'm even reusing a gimmick that was used for a different tournament back in the day. It intrigues me."

The human woman tapped her chin and said, "Well, okay, if Hero Planet's old chairman approved of such things, I guess it could be alright. Besides, it's not like heroes can't handle this sort of thing."

"Now you're getting it," Shaymin replied with a grin before the two entered the fight area and took a seat behind a podium. As much as Tori hated to admit it, Shaymin's sadistic gimmicks for the sporting events had made them more entertaining, so perhaps this would make the matches more exciting.

During this time, Drizzile and Unown were getting ready for their matches, Inteleon having taken a plane to head back home. She trusted her son to win this match without her there to give him advice. After all, he had pulled it off against three very powerful opponents prior.

Allie sat with the others in the front row and looked around with a sigh. Morgrem looked with concern and asked, "What's wrong?" the tall girl replying, "It feels weird not having Rillaboom and Vaporeon here to cheer with us. It just feels like our numbers are dropping."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Scorbunny replied with her hands folded behind her head, "I'm sure they wouldn't want us to stress out over something like that. You act like they're dead or something."

Bailey nodded and added, "Yeah. They'll be all better soon enough. We just have to be patient," Allie sighing, "Right," a light smile forming on her face, "Besides, Scorbunny, I know you'll kick the crap out of Melmetal."

The rabbit grinned with confidence while Melmetal stared blankly at her from the other side of the bleachers. He had a feeling he could overcome her. After all, she was weakest of the trio.

Once enough time had passed, Shaymin exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it's time for the semi-finals to begin! And unlike the first two rounds, we will not be changing locations! Not only that, but the second match will take place a mere five minutes after the first one!"

While this was confusing, what with the lower number of matches, the crowd's excitement grew when they heard this. Scorbunny, however, blinked and uttered, "Oh, maybe I should have gone off to prepare too."

Morgrem shrugged and replied, "After the last couple of days, I think you'll be fine," Allie hoping she was right. After all, Melmetal kept revealing more and more abilities as the tournament went along. Who knew what else he had in store?

Either way, it was time for the match to begin as Shaymin exclaimed, "In the red corner, once again coming to us from Ireland is that surprisingly tough chameleon who has truly proven himself! He's bested Sandaconda and Incineroar and comes to wow us even more!"

Incineroar sat amongst the crowd with his arms folded and a grin on his face, saying, "If anyone can put that Unown in his place, it's him," Wurmple nodding. Ben would have been there too, but he had decided to watch with Rapidight from the hospital.

"With speed, strength and skill, give it up for Drizzile!" Shaymin squealed. The crowd cheered wildly when he entered the area on all fours and crawled toward the ring. A spy theme played in the background while he was dressed in a ninja garb, and once he entered the ring, he removed the clothing and pointed his hand toward the Irish crowd like a pistol, saying, "Bang."

Since he had only two fingers, the illusion was difficult to pull off, but it still worked as the crowd's excitement grew, Allie saying, "Wow, that's not what I expected at all," her heart skipping a beat as she blushed and thought, 'What was that about?'

Drizzile took a deep breath and smiled at the camera while he thought, 'I hope you're already watching this, Mom. I'm gonna win this, just you wait.'

"And in the blue corner is the Mexican fighter with an unpredictable power!" Tori exclaimed, "He has proven himself quite the force against Monferno and Drednaw and now he comes to amaze us some more! Give a round of applause for Unown!"

The Mexican crowd cheered wildly when the odd being flew into the ring in his falcon form. Once he was high above the ring, he shifted into his kabuto state and landed hard against the mat. He then took on the form of a gorilla and let out a loud cry, beating his chest hard enough for the area to vibrate.

The crowd had no idea how he had pulled that off, but his fans were even more excited as he shifted into his regular form and said, "I've been looking forward to this, Drizzile. Out of all the fighters in this tournament, you're by far the most fascinating to me. You don't seem all that special and yet I hear you've managed to show off some very impressive skills. I haven't seen them since, again, I like to be surprised by my opponents, but I've heard some amazing things."

Drizzile frowned and thought, 'Yeah, and I'm gonna use those skills to wipe the surface with you,' but just as they were about to begin, Shaymin stated, "Hold on! Before the match can start, I need to introduce the gimmick for this! You see, each match will have its own special gimmick to make things more interesting! Everyone, take a look at the ropes!"

It was at this moment that everyone noticed something different. Not only were the ropes blue as opposed to the traditional red but the turnbuckles looked more like lightning rods. The hedgehog then had a staff member insert a large plug into a giant outlet, a wavy sound filling the air while the tops of the turnbuckles lit up like light bulbs.

"For those who haven't figured it out yet, this is an electric ring death match!" Shaymin explained, "Basically, the ropes this time around are actually wires, and electricity is flowing through them as I speak! Basically, whoever comes in contact with them will be electrocuted!"

The crowd stared at the hedgehog then back at the ring. While most found it intriguing, Allie gulped, "Oh no, that'll make things much more difficult. What if Drizzile needs to use the ropes for one of his moves?" Bailey groaning, "You're right. This is bullshit."

But while Drizzile was terrified at first, he took a deep breath and put on a more serious face. There was no way he would allow this to intimidate him. As far as he was concerned, this was just another challenge for him to overcome.

Unown, meanwhile, folded his arms with an implied smirk and thought, 'I did want to win this more fairly, but this is too perfect. Even if he somehow knocks me into the ropes, it won't make a lick of difference.'

A few seconds passed until Shaymin could tell both fighters were ready. Thus she smirked and squealed, "Well, folks, without further ado, let us begin!" before she rang the bell.

Drizzile held his ground and thought, 'That's right, Unown hasn't seen any of my matches. That means he'll want me to attack him first so he can learn my abilities. Drednaw thought she could just take him out if she beat away at him enough, but I know better.'

As such, he took a deep breath and said, "You know what? You're a very impressive fighter yourself. As such, I find it a tad unfair that you've never gotten the first move."

The others stared as Scorbunny uttered, "He's seriously trying that? Would that even work?" Rolycoly replying, "That's a good question. Unown doesn't seem the type to actually fall for that."

Drizzile spread out his arms and said, "Go on, hit me with your best shot. I may look weak, but trust me, I can handle it," Unown staring at him for a few seconds while he thought, 'I see. He's trying to get me to lower my guard. Well, it doesn't matter, because I can still hit him no matter what he tries.'

With that in mind, the odd being shouted, "ANCIENT POWER!" and morphed into his kabuto form again, even the Mexican crowd shocked when he barked, "Just know that you brought this upon yourself!"

He then spread out a pair of artificial wings and flew toward Drizzile at a fairly good speed. He held his arms out and lowered his legs while raising his horn. No matter which direction Drizzile chose to move, he would take in a strike for sure.

However, since he had avoided Drizzile's matches, he was completely unaware of his water power. Thus, his eyes widened when the chameleon formed the liquid around his hands and morphed it into a pair of giant mittens, barking, "AQUATIC POWER MITTS!"

The crowd went wild when he threw his fists forward and struck Unown's shoulders. And sure enough, this proved just powerful enough to stop his flight, thus Drizzile was able to grab onto the spots he had hit before he leapt into the air. He then leaned backward and planted Unown's back into the top rope, the crowd going wild as electricity coursed through the odd being's body.

"And Drizzile is off to an amazing start!" Shaymin squealed, "Not only has he blocked Unown's move, but he has already managed to take full advantage of the match's gimmick! I was not expecting that so soon!"

However, before Drizzile could remove his hands, his eyes widened when Unown wrapped his arms around him and held him in place. He then propelled himself off of the ropes high into the air and flipped the chameleon upside-down. Afterwards, he wrapped his legs around the chameleon's neck and slammed his skull hard into the canvas.

Once again, even the Mexican crowd was genuinely shocked. Normally, Unown would allow himself to take in far more damage before fighting back, and yet here he was taking the initiative against an opponent he had known very little about. And to make things even more confusing, the electricity seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever.

Unown released his hold and allowed Drizzile to collapse before he pushed himself up and stared in shock. The odd being implied a smirk with his eye and quipped, "Surprised? I guess I can't blame you. I know it's probably hard to believe, what with me being a psychic type, but electricity doesn't hurt me. Sure, I'd be lying if I said that didn't deal any damage to me, but it's nothing but a minor inconvenience."

He then transformed into a falcon and flew toward the chameleon before he could respond, gripping his shoulders and adding, "Now let's see how you handle it!" hurling him into the ropes while most of the crowd stared in horror.

Drizzile let out a loud cry before bouncing off and hobbling forward. He breathed heavily and felt lucky he had only been pressed up against the ropes for a few seconds. But even so, just that one shock made him feel slightly weak while he tried his best to regain focus.

"I'll admit, it was clever of you to come up with a different strategy," Unown stated before separating his letters again, "You knew I wanted you to attack first, and I'll admit, that technique of yours really threw me off. But it also made me realize just how easy it would be to defeat you. I don't even need to see your other skills. The fact that your power conducts electricity is good enough for me!"

Drizzile's eyes widened when he said that. All of his strongest moves required the use of water, but if he were to be sent into the ropes while using any of them, the results could be even worse. He had entered the match full of confidence but now he could not help but wonder if he ever stood a chance. Could it be that Shaymin's gimmick had cemented his failure?


	37. Chapter 37

While it seemed as if Drizzile had truly outsmarted Unown, he had already fallen victim to Shaymin's electric rope gimmick. As if that was not enough, the odd being had decided that he saw enough of the chameleon's skills, so much so that he would not rely on his usual tactics for this match. Not only did Drizzile already feel weak from the shock he had taken in, but his plan had backfired.

But even so, he could not give up, not when only a little more than two minutes had passed. He had faced many tough opponents and was yet to lose ever since he defeated Runerigus. There was no way he could allow himself to fall this early.

With that in mind, he took a deep breath when Unown's letters finally stopped circling around his head and formed into the shape of a scorpion. He then implied a smirk and said, "Don't worry, I'll end this nice and quick," before he sent his pincers toward Drizzile's shoulders.

The chameleon frowned and leaned his body backward in a perfect arch just in time to avoid them. He then balanced himself on his tail and wrapped an arm and a leg around each of Unown's wrists, the odd being's eye wide with shock. But of course, after his match with Drednaw, Drizzile knew better than to cling to him for too long, as such, he swung his body backward before launching himself forward and planting his tail into Unown's eye, shouting, "FLYING CHAMELEON LANCE!"

The Irish crowd cheered while Allie uttered, "Wow, that was really creative," Drizzile wrapping his leg around Unown's head and forcing his chin downward into the canvas.

But just when it seemed like he had the upper hand back, Unown implied a frown and transformed into a porcupine. Afterwards, her tucked himself into a ball, many small portions of his letters sticking out like quills before he rolled right into Drizzile and barked, "ANCIENT PORCUPINE BOWLING BALL!"

Many cuts covered Drizzile while he flew backward. But just as it looked like he would hit the ropes again, he gasped and jabbed his tail into the canvas just in time. But even so, he knew he would have to act fast when Unown advanced toward him, thus he took a deep breath and thought, 'I don't know if this'll work for me, but I have to try.'

The crowd watched in stunned silence when he curved his tail inward, much like when Vaporeon would curl her tail into a spring. And once it was as low as it could go, he released it and launched himself high into the air just in time for Unown to roll into the ropes. Just like before, electricity covered his entire body but once again had little effect on him, thus he used his quills to climb up onto the top and bounce himself off.

Drizzile's eyes widened when Allie shouted, "DRIZILLE, LOOK OUT!" only for him to take another strike, this time to his back. He coughed up blood before Unown changed into a gorilla. And with that, he took hold of the chameleon's sides, let out a loud battle cry and descended toward the mat with Drizzile's belly aimed at the surface.

"ANCIENT SIMIAN POWERBOMB!" he yelled as he descended toward the mat and rammed Drizzile's gut hard into it. The Mexican crowd simply could not believe this, thus they cheered heavily while the chameleon lay there, everyone else in shock. It had not been that easy, had it?

"Even though Drizzile can pack a punch, it seems as if his fortune is similar to when he was just starting out," Shaymin stated while Tori started the ten count, "From just a few hits, it looks like he might be out cold!"

Allie bit her lower lip and thought, 'Come on, Drizzile. You've worked way too hard for this,' the others cheering for him.

Even Incineroar could not help but stand up and shout, "Come on, Drizzile! That was nothing for a badass like you! Now get up and kick his ass!"

Drizzile's eyes widened as he leapt up right before Tori could reach six seconds, the Irish crowd cheering for him while Unown folded his arms and said, "That's probably for the best. It would have been boring to win so easily."

The chameleon frowned and thought, 'Alright, it's not too bad yet. I have to save my new ability for when I'm truly on the verge of defeat. This is only the beginning. Even with that electric shock earlier, I still haven't taken in nearly as much pain as I did against Sandaconda and Incineroar.'

With that in mind, he waited while Unown took on the form of a ram. He then charged toward Drizzile with his horns lowered and exclaimed, "ANCIENT BATTERING RAM!" only for the chameleon to leap over his head with his hands cupped together over his head. He then formed water around them and morphed them into katana before pointing them downward and shouting, "AQUATIC ASSASSINATION!"

Unown's eye widened with terror when the blades were lodged into his back. However, what shocked him and the crowd even more was when a black liquid very similar to ink flew out of that very spot.

All went silent among the crowd until Allie uttered, "Did anyone else just see that?" Morgrem blinking and enquiring, "He could actually bleed this whole time? I was starting to think he was made up of something else entirely."

Drizzile kept his blade in Unown's back for a while as he was just as spellbound as the majority of the crowd. However, there was no way the odd being would allow this, thus he separated his letters and distanced himself from Drizzile, causing him to fall flat against the mat.

After the chameleon rose to his feet, Unown took on his regular form and breathed heavily, thinking, 'Dammit, no one was supposed to know about that! Why didn't I think that he could turn his water into blades!? If he can form giant hands, that shouldn't have been too hard to predict!'

Even so, he took a deep breath and treated the fact that he could bleed as if it was not a big deal, saying, "Not bad. You actually cut me open. No one's ever been able to do that before. But it doesn't matter, anyway. Just like these electrified ropes, something as simple as a stab wound barely hurts me."

"Is he for real?" Scorbunny groaned, "Seriously, I think this guy might be worse than Melmetal," only for Allie to shake her head and remark, "No. He's lying. That hurt him much more than he's letting on. If Drizzile can strike him with more moves like that, that'll make things much easier."

But of course, Unown would not allow this to happen. Thus he separated his letters again and took on the form of a kabuto once more. But when he flew toward Drizzile again, he knew better than to make the same mistake. As such, he flew right over the chameleon's head before he could retaliate.

Drizzile's eyes widened in confusion until Unown landed behind him and changed into a snake. He then wrapped his tail around the chameleon's neck and shouted, "ANCIENT SNAKE NOOSE!"

While this did put quite a bit of pressure on Drizzile's neck, he felt prepared for this. As such, he covered his hands in water and formed his small blades. But just as he was about to jab the part strangling him, Unown chuckled, "As if I didn't see that coming," leaping into the air and spinning vertically like a wheel. And once he was close to the mat, he rammed Drizzile's skull into it and barked, "ANCIENT WHEEL SLAM!"

Drizzile cried out in pain while the Mexican crowd cheered. But of course, there was no way Unown would leave it at that. As such, he wrapped his tail around the chameleon's waist and lifted him up, saying, "One more time," before leaping into the air and spinning vertically again.

However, this time he headed toward the top rope. At that moment, Allie stood up from her seat and squeaked, "COME ON, DRIZZILE, ESCAPE!"

Unfortunately, Unown refused to give him a chance to try as he rammed his back hard into the rope, shouting, "ANCIENT WHEEL SLAM!"

The Irish fans all stared in horror when electricity coursed through Drizzile's veins. And since his hands were still covered in water, those took in the worst damage of all, burns forming on them while he cried out in agonizing pain. But since Unown knew better than to kill him, he lifted the chameleon up after half a minute and slammed his back into the canvas.

The entire crowd went silent once more while Tori started another ten count. They could not believe it. It seemed as if the match was already over, a look of satisfaction in Unown's eye.

'I'll give you this, you're not bad, kid,' he thought, 'If these ropes weren't electric, you might have been a decent challenge. But a win's a win,' narrowing his eye while his mind added, 'Still, I can't believe you actually got me to bleed.'

"Drizzile, get up!" Allie screamed, "It's not over yet, it can't be! You've dealt with worse than this, I just know it!" Bailey nodding and chanting, "Come on! Drizzile! Drizzile!" the others joining in.

While most of the crowd followed suit, the chameleon lay there and thought, 'Dammit, it can't be over already. I didn't even get to use my power once,' before his hand twitched, Tori having reached six seconds. At that moment, he realized he could not possibly allow himself to lose, not after he had come so far.

With that in mind, he clenched his fists and rose back to his feet just in time for Tori to reach nine. The crowd cheered while Unown stared wide-eyed and spat, "WHAT!?"

However, his irritation died down when he noticed something off. Drizzile's eyes were still closed, as if he was still unconscious and his body had moved on its own. While the others knew exactly what he was doing, once again, the odd being had not seen his matches up to this point, and this was just what he needed.

"Wait, is he doing what I think he is?" Morgrem uttered as Allie nodded and replied, "Yeah. He spent hours working on it. He said he finally perfected it. I'm just hoping that's true."

Unown chuckled and thought, 'This is too perfect. His body just can't accept that he's already lost. All I need is to give him a light nudge and he's finished, but where's the entertainment in that?'

With that in mind, he morphed his body into that of a ram once again and raced toward Drizzile with his horns pointed outward. But just as he was about to make contact, sure enough, the chameleon felt the force of his movement and leapt to the side. The crowd stared in stunned silence while he delivered a roundhouse into Unown's side.

The odd being's eye was wide open as he was too shocked to figure out what was going on. This caused him to lose focus, resulting in him ramming head-first into the ropes. But once again, he showed no signs of pain and backed away before turning to face Drizzile. As if that manoeuvre was not enough, though, the chameleon had a look of confidence on his mouth and eyebrows and held up a defensive stance.

The crowd broke out into heavy cheers and applause while Shaymin squeaked, "And Drizzile pulls off the same miracle he performed against Sandaconda! I still have no idea how he did that, but it seems to have given him a bit of an edge! Let's see if he can keep this up!"

"Way to go, Drizzile!" Morgrem exclaimed with a wide grin, Rolycoly pumping his fists up and down and adding, "Now you'll kick his ass for sure!"

However, Unown did not feel intimidated yet. If anything, this felt like nothing more than a fluke. As such, he narrowed his eyelid and grunted, "Don't act so cocky! You just got lucky!"

With that in mind, he transformed into a falcon and flew toward Drizzile who leapt up just in time to form his massive water hands and shout, "AQUATIC POWER MITTS!" ramming both fists hard into the odd being's chest.

However, he did not end his attack there as he grabbed hold of Unown's wings and leaned backward. He planted the odd being's skull into the canvas before the Irish crowd went wild, Scorbunny squealing, "What a brilliant move at a critical juncture!"

Everyone stared awkwardly at her until she uttered, "Did I really just say that?" before Incineroar shouted, "Oh yeah, there's that badass who took me down!"

Unown pushed himself upright and thought, 'Alright, I see how it is. Now that his eyes are closed, he's faster and more nimble. Very well, I'll just have to become something that's both of those things.'

With that in mind, he transformed into a monkey and leapt onto the top rope. Electricity coursed through him, but he once again ignored it with ease and bounced off before landing behind Drizzile and setting up a back kick with both feet. Once again, the chameleon felt it and leapt into the air just in time to avoid the incoming attack.

Unown narrowed his eyelid and propelled himself upward only for Drizzile to lather his feet in water and form blades on the soles. The crowd stared in shock, Unown's eye with with terror when the soles of his own feet went straight through the blades, the chameleon barking, "AQUATIC ICE SKATES!"

What shocked the Mexican crowd most of all was not even the move itself but rather that much like his katanas, the blades were completely lodged in Unown's artificial feet. And much like before, this managed to draw black blood from him, the odd being once again too stunned to retaliate. Thus Drizzile took full advantage of this and flipped his body forward three hundred and sixty degrees, lifting Unown into the air and planting his face into the canvas.

The crowd cheered the loudest they had throughout the entire match, Shaymin squealing, "Oh my god! This is unbelievable! After taking in so much torment up until now, Drizzile has made a remarkable comeback and knocked Unown down!" Tori starting up the ten count while Allie and the others all jumped up and down with their arms in the air.

Drizzile breathed a sigh of relief and opened his eyes before he uncovered his ear holes. One last thing Inteleon had taught him was how to count to two minutes in his head, so he could tell that exact amount of time had passed. Thus he smiled and thought, 'I did it, Mom. I wish you could have been here to see this in person.'

But just as it seemed like he had won the match for good, many members of the crowd stared in horror when Unown murmured, "Ancient Power," and once again separated his letters. Drizzile turned and gasped before he backed up and watched in horror. A part of him felt as if this would not be enough to finish the match for good, but deep down, he hoped that it would.

However, what happened next truly amazed everyone. Rather than taking on another common animal form, Unown became what looked like a wolf with sharp quills running down his back. He had razor sharp claws on his artificial feet and had even formed a nose that resembled that of a bat.

"Um, what is that supposed to be?" Scorbunny uttered before Geneva gasped, "Oh my god! I think I know what he just turned into! But does that mean this creature's real?" the others turning to her before Rolycoly gulped, "I know exactly what she's referring to."

Drizzile trembled and uttered, "Um, what exactly is that?" Unown replying, "A creature of legend. Even though there is no official proof that it exists, I've always been fascinated with it. So I went with the design that sounded the coolest to me. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I've taken on the form of the legendary chupacabra!"

Even the Mexican crowd could not help but feel a twinge of fear until one said, "It's fine. It's not like he's a real chupacabra," the others nodding, though some of them still had trouble looking past the form itself.

But while this did frighten Drizzile at first, he took a deep breath and frowned, grunting, "Ever since I became a hero, I've faced many scary creatures. Hell, the very first opponent I defeated on my own was much scarier than you could ever hope to be! At least he was an actual spirit! You're just a poser pretending to be all these creatures!"

Unown stared silently for a few seconds before he narrowed his eyelid and growled, "I'll show you who's a poser!" He then let out a battle cry and pounced at Drizzile with his claws out.

The chameleon leapt backward just in time to avoid the strike only for Unown to roll up into a wheel formation and shout, "ANCIENT CHUPACABRA ROLLER!" ramming himself hard into Drizzile. While the quills were not quite as powerful as those of his porcupine form, they still managed to cover the chameleon in holes while he flew backward into the ropes.

He let out a loud cry of pain after receiving yet another electric shock before Unown placed a firm grip on him and planted his claws into the back of his head while covering his mouth. A maniacal look formed in his eye while he quipped, "Oh, not so tough anymore, are you? Come on, where's that amazing stealth you displayed earlier!? Why aren't you dodging my moves anymore!?"

The chameleon squirmed, grabbed hold of the odd being's hand and tugged on it. When this proved ineffective, he formed water around his hands again and morphed it into small blades. He then stabbed the back of the hand, once again drawing blood before Unown narrowed his eyelid and lifted him up, slamming the back of his head into the canvas.

He then proceeded to open up his new artificial mouth and reveal a set of sharp teeth. He inched his head toward Drizzile's belly and grunted, "ANCIENT CHUPACABRA BITE!" many members of the crowd staring in horror. While Unown may have taken on the form of the legendary beast, that did not mean he now had the ability to suck blood, did it?

Of course, Tori kept a watchful eye to make sure he did not try to murder Drizzile while Shaymin could not help but stare and utter, "Wow, I did not think this guy's abilities could be any more amazing."

But just as Unown was about to sink his teeth into Drizzile, his friends praying that he would be able to overcome this, he frowned and formed a pair of shuriken around his hands. He then barked, "AQUATIC SHURIKEN!" and planted both into the odd being's cheeks, once again drawing blood from him.

Unlike before, Unown actually showed signs of pain. His eye went wide and twitched before he let out a loud cry and released his hold on Drizzile's head. But when he reeled his own head back, the chameleon continued to cling to him as he suddenly noticed something.

While it was hard to make out, all the times he had successfully stabbed Unown had shown more results than expected. All of the letters he pierced had been cut open, and as it so happened, a G that made up his right cheek was one such letter that he had used to form a foot for his monkey form earlier.

Seeing this gave Drizzile a huge boost in confidence, thus he took a deep breath and swung both of his feet into the odd being's face before he removed his shuriken. This caused Unown to back up into the ropes while electricity once again coursed through him. But unlike before, some of it travelled into his new cuts, thus for the first time in the entire match, he showed signs of pain when he unleashed a loud cry of agony.

The crowd stared silently for a few seconds, but once they realized Drizzile had the upper hand again, the majority cheered wildly for him. Allie beamed bright and bit her lower lip before she screamed, "WOO! You got him, Drizzile! Finish him off!" the others nodding and sending him their own words of encouragement.

Drizzile took a deep breath and backed up a little bit, grunting, "I should have suspected as much from the start. Admit it, Unown, all this time, you have been taking in damage from everything, including the electricity. You were just able to ignore it because that body of yours is able to prevent you from feeling pain. But now that I've managed to cut it open, you can't hide that anymore, can you? Now you have weak spots that I created."

Unown stared wide-eyed and trembled, thus the chameleon took a deep breath and formed his katana one last time. Finally, he leapt toward Unown and shouted, "AQUATIC ASSASSINATION!" swinging them both down his entire front side before more blood sprayed out of him.

Now Unown was truly frightened. He could no longer bring himself to fight back. And this was all Drizzile needed before he lodged his blades into the odd being's shoulders and leapt backward, shouting, "AQUATIC KATANA SUPLEX!"

When Unown's skull hit the canvas hard, he had a blank look in his eye. And after Drizzile released him, his entire body collapsed and he lay there with his arms twitching. No one could believe what they had seen. Even Drizzile's fans and friends could not help but stare in stunned silence.

Either way, Tori blinked and started the ten count while Shaymin exclaimed, "And just as it seemed like Unown could never truly be hurt, Drizzile has found a way and knocked him down! Let's see if he can get up, folks!"

Sure enough, Unown could barely move. And after four seconds, his arms stopped twitching. As such, Tori was able to reach ten seconds before she rang the bell and exclaimed, "And that's that! After the longest match so far, Drizzile has come out on top and will advance to the finals!"

The area filled up with cheers and applause while even the Mexican crowd could not help but respect the chameleon. His eyes were wide with shock as he uttered, "Wait, I won? I actually won?"

Allie grinned as wide she she could and clapped happily while Scorbunny squealed, "That was amazing, Drizzile! You're awesome!" Morgrem and Rolycoly both spellbound. They just knew that if either of them faced him, they would stand even less of a chance than they did against Scorbunny.

Melmetal, all the while, gazed upon the chameleon before he got up to head elsewhere to prepare himself. After all, his match was only five minutes away, and when Shaymin reminded the audience of this, Scorbunny rose up from her seat and said, "Right. I gotta get ready."

Unown was lifted up onto a stretcher as Drizzile breathed a sigh of relief. While the odd being may not have been a villain, Drizzile still could not help but think if that match had gone on any longer, he would have been killed for sure.

And so, he headed toward the bleachers, and when Scorbunny hopped next to him, she grinned and held up her hand. The chameleon smiled and gave her a high five, heading toward the seat she had been seated in before. Needless to say, Allie gave him a big hug when he sat down and shook him for a little while he chuckled and tried to ignore how much this hurt him. After all, this was a nice moment and he did not wish to spoil it.

Of course, Inteleon had also seen all of this on TV after having returned home the previous day. A big smile formed on her face while she thought, 'Good job, son. I have no doubt you'll be champion.'

But while things had turned out well for Drizzile in the end, there was still Scorbunny's match with Melmetal. Now everyone could not wait to see how that would turn out.


	38. Chapter 38

Scorbunny had very little time to prepare for her match with Melmetal. As such, she knew she would truly need to make this count. But most of all, she wanted to defeat the cyborg. While he always seemed like such a good sport, much like Rillaboom and Vaporeon, she could tell there was something off about him.

All the while, Melmetal was hard at work on his own entrance, thinking, 'This is perfect. After I beat Scorbunny, I'll take down Drizzile. With all six of Edmonton's heroes taken down by me, these people will have no choice but to make me their new leader.'

During all of this, the electric ropes were powered down and removed by staff members. Of course, they wore gloves since the ropes were still hot, but Allie and Geneva were just grateful to see them removed. Drizzile especially took a deep breath and sighed, "Thank god Scorbunny doesn't have to deal with that too."

"I hear that," Bailey groaned, "I'd hate to touch those things," Allie nodding and adding, "Still, I can't help but wonder what the next gimmick will be. It can't be any worse than electricity, right?"

"Considering what we saw from Shaymin during the sporting events, she might have very well found something worse," Drizzile grumbled before Morgrem nodded and replied, "Doesn't matter, anyway. Scorbunny can handle anything."

At that moment, the regular ropes were back in place, thus Shaymin grinned and squealed, "Ladies and gentlemen, it's just about time for the second-last match of the tournament to begin! I tell you, it's been an incredible ride! But as it nears its end, I imagine it can only get better!"

Tori nodded and stated, "In the red corner is our British representative! She has amazed us all in her matches with Hatterene and Rapidight, and she comes to us today to dazzle us even more!"

All the while, Hatterene was seated amongst the crowd with a big smile on her face. She could not wait to give Scorbunny all the support she could, especially after she helped her come to terms with her real self. And of course, Rapidight and Ben both watched from the hospital, and both definitely wanted to see the rabbit come out on top.

"With speed, agility and skill, Scorbunny!" Tori finished before everyone cheered wildly, the rabbit speeding toward the ring with another jersey on. However, this time she had lit her feet on fire in advance, which allowed her to leave a stream of flames behind her. Once she was close enough to the ring, she leapt into the air and landed firmly against the canvas before she removed her jersey.

Needless to say, the cheers and applause were deafening as her friends gave her a standing ovation. She shot them a grin before looking at a nearby camera and thinking, 'I know you're probably not awake yet, Vaporeon and Rillaboom, but I'm still gonna win this not just for myself but for all of us.'

Once the crowd was calm, Shaymin beamed and squealed, "In the blue corner, still representing Russia is that awesome metallic warrior with many skills up his sleeve! He's already proven himself a real force to be reckoned with against Vaporeon and Rillaboom and I'm sure he intends to do the same to Scorbunny! Give it up for Melmetal!"

The Russian fans were truly astounded when their national anthem started to play in the background. It seemed as if Melmetal had gone for a simpler entrance when he marched toward the ring in a green uniform. On top of that, he also had the Russian flag in hand and twirled it before he entered the ring to give an army salute.

The Russian fans gave a round of applause for him while everyone else was amazed. In the history of the Hero Olympics, no one had ever given an entrance like this. And it seemed to ultimately pay off.

Once Melmetal was finished, he removed his clothes and set the flag gently against the ringside. But of course, Scorbunny could not have cared less about his entrance. All that mattered was that she finish what her friends had started, especially now that she had seen a good number of his abilities.

Once both were ready, Shaymin smirked and said, "Now that the fighters are here, you're all probably wondering what the gimmick for this match is. Well, I brought back one classic match type. Now to bring in one that hasn't been used since the dark ages."

Many were intrigued by this while Geneva groaned, "If this was used back during those times, it can't be good."

At that moment, the staff carried in big mats covered in spikes and laid them down around the ring. They continued to set out more and more until half of the floor was covered. The audience's intrigue increased as Shaymin explained, "Everyone, it is my pleasure to introduce the classic spiked floor death match! Basically, whoever's knocked out of the ring will be in for a rather nasty experience, so these two had better make sure that doesn't happen!"

Neither fighter looked too worried about this until Shaymin directed everyone's attention to four choppers hovering above the ring. Everyone stared in confusion until she said, "Oh yeah, and just to make things more interesting..."

The pilots proceeded to lower cranes toward the ropes and grab hold of them, prying them off of the turnbuckles. Now Scorbunny could not help but feel a tad nervous, especially since some of her best abilities involved her using the ropes. Melmetal, on the other hands, seemed fine with this.

"Wait, I don't get it," Bailey uttered, "Why would they put the ropes back just to remove them again?" Drizzile sighing, "I just hope Scorbunny can work around this. Something tells me this is gonna be far worse for her than it'll be for Melmetal."

Allie frowned as she had to admit the chameleon had a point. Melmetal was made of liquid steel. For all they knew, these spikes might not even have an effect on him. And while she was certain Shaymin had not planned it, it seemed ironic that both gimmicks were this big of a hindrance for her friends.

Either way, Scorbunny tried not to look scared while Melmetal implied a sweet smile and said, "Don't look so afraid. I'll try not to rely on the spikes too much," the rabbit frowning and thinking, 'Don't patronize me. I can work around this.'

With that, she was now fully focused, thus Shaymin nodded and said, "Well, it seems like both fighters are ready. So, let's begin," ringing the bell before Scorbunny leapt toward Melmetal and planted a flying kick into his face.

Melmetal backed up while the British crowd cheered, the rabbit sending a roundhouse into his gut. She then proceeded to latch her legs onto his wrist and pull back as hard as she could without exhausting herself thus pulling him downward and causing him to hit the mat hard.

"And Scorbunny's off to a good start!" Shaymin exclaimed, "Melmetal is unable to respond as she lands two fierce kicks and slams him to the mat with a move that won't put a strain on her!"

Drizzile and the others smiled when Scorbunny bounced high above the ring and thought, 'I'm gonna take you down quickly. I won't let you use any of those cheap tactics of yours against me!' She then descended toward the cyborg with her feet ablaze and exclaimed, "SCORCHING ANVIL!"

But just as she was seconds away from striking Melmetal, his liquid metal vibrated and churned. It then seeped into the hexagonal nut in his midsection before he shouted, "LIQUID METAL STALAGMITE!" a long metal spike protruding from his back just in time to stop Scorbunny's attack.

Since her feet were cupped together, the spike did not pierce her flesh, but she was still unable to finish her attack. Thus she leapt back before he could do more and allowed him to rise back to his feet. But while the crowd was disappointed that her attack had failed, Drizzile was just relieved that she had not taken in pain as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Damn, that was close," Morgrem uttered while Scorbunny frowned and dashed toward him again. But just as it seemed like she was as rash as she used to be when she was just starting out, she smirked and noticed Melmetal aim the nut on his right fist toward her. As such, she leapt to the side and sent a roundhouse into the side of his hand.

Unfortunately, this did not have the result she had hoped for. While it dealt some damage, Melmetal easily ignored it and sent his left fist into her gut, shouting, "STEEL KNUCKLE!"

Scorbunny tried her best to ignore the pain only for the cyborg to reel his right arm back and send it into her face. While she flew backward, he stretched both of his arms toward her and rammed them into her sides, shouting, "DOUBLE IRON CRUSH!" his nuts rotating and scraping the spots he had hit.

Scorbunny cried out in agonizing pain as the crowd gasped. Tori stared at this and stated, "While Scorbunny certainly had a good start, it would seem Melmetal has gotten the upper hand! Scorbunny clearly tried her best to avoid getting hit, but it simply wasn't good enough!"

Scorbunny could see her friends watching with concern, thus she gritted her teeth and planted her hands into Melmetal's. But just as she was about to try and slam him, she remembered that she could not do that without putting a serious strain on herself. As such, she applied all her might, now ignoring the pain to her sides, and pried herself out of the hold.

All went silent throughout the area while Melmetal stared in shock. Thus Scorbunny smirked, propelled herself toward him and rammed her feet into his face. The crowd cheered as she leapt backward and took many deep breaths. While she had taken in a lot of damage from that last move, she had to ignore it. There was no way she would meet the same fate as Vaporeon and Rillaboom.

"Damn, that was awesome," Rolycoly uttered, Drizzile nodding and replying, "Yeah. I've never seen her pull off a counter like that."

Melmetal tried not to look annoyed while he said, "I have to admit, I'm impressed. I didn't think someone of your stature could pull that off," Scorbunny smirking and remarking, "Yeah. One thing you should know is that I'm a lot tougher than I look."

Even so, she knew she would need to be a lot smarter with her tactics. Just from those few hits, she could see why everyone else had fallen to Melmetal so quickly. He really was just as powerful as he looked if not more.

With that in mind, Scorbunny struck a defensive stance and chose to wait for Melmetal's next action. The cyborg implied a smirk with his eye and shifted it sideways before his body vibrated once again. He then inflated his body while the rabbit narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'I see what you're plotting. Well, that's not gonna work.'

Once Melmetal's body was as big and round as it could get, long protrusions shot out of it before he shouted, "JACK MARBLE!" and rolled toward Scorbunny. Unlike Rillaboom, the rabbit had the athletic skill to dodge this move, thus she waited for just the right moment to jump high into the air. She then smirked and lit her feet on fire, aiming her heels downward and descending just like before.

"Wait, what's she doing!?" Allie spat, "She'll take in far more damage from that!" only for Drizzile to utter, "No, wait. I think this might be the smartest strategy she's ever used."

Scorbunny planted her heels hard into the top of Melmetal's body and screamed, "SCORCHING ANVIL!" The crowd stared in shock when this actually caused the cyborg to stop rolling forward. And when the cameras zoomed in on it, everyone turned to a big-screen TV showcasing all of this to see why her attack had worked so well.

"Would you look at that, folks!?" Shaymin squealed, "Scorbunny managed to land her kick right into Melmetal's head!" Bailey, Morgrem and Rolycoly's eyes sparkling at the sight of this.

Sure enough, it was just as Shaymin described. When Scorbunny landed, both of her feet were planted right into Melmetal's skull. Thus he deflated his body before she leapt away from him, the cyborg rubbing the part that had been hit.

"You think I haven't been paying attention?" Scorbunny quipped with a smirk, "Every time you inflate your body, there are three parts of you that you're unable to tuck in, your shoulders and your head," the crowd staring in stunned silence.

"She's right," one member of the Russian crowd commented, "I've noticed it many times but never really thought about it," another adding, "And to think she timed that move just right. I have to admit, I'm impressed," before clasping her hand over her mouth.

However, luckily for her, Melmetal did not seem to care about her comment. Instead, he was much more focused on Scorbunny while he narrowed his eye and grunted, "I can see you really are a lot smarter than you once were."

With that in mind, he took a deep breath and sent his right arm toward her once again, readying his left arm. Luckily, though, Scorbunny knew exactly what he was attempting and thus leapt to her own left so he could not use his other fist against her. But it seemed as if Melmetal had expected that when he lifted up his right leg and shot it toward her, barking, "LIQUID METAL STAMP!"

Scorbunny's eyes were wide with shock when his toe struck her hard in the forehead and caused her head to reel back. And it seemed this was only the beginning as Melmetal stretched his arm toward her and grabbed into her ears, sharpening the ends and shouting, "LIQUID METAL ICE PICK!"

Many members of the crowd winced when the nails pierced right through Scorbunny's ears. Thus she cried out in agonizing pain before Melmetal swung her around like a flail and hurled her toward the edge of the ring. As such, Drizzile's eyes widened before he stood up and yelled, "SCORBUNNY!"

Needless to say, the others were just as shocked when she flew outside the ring and landed back-first into the spikes. Thankfully, they were small enough not to be fatal, but they still put multiple holes in her while she released more cries. Even the Russian fans could not help but feel a tad sorry for her while Melmetal folded his arms and said, "Hey, Shaymin added this gimmick for a reason. Figured I may as well use it."

Shaymin had the most childish grin on her face while she squealed, "It works perfectly!" Tori staring at her and uttering, "Can you go back to not acting like this, please?"

The hedgehog then cleared her throat and explained, "Much like Hawrelak Park's lake, this only counts as a ring-out if Scorbunny gives up or is unconscious! That means she can spend as much time lying on those spikes as she can handle!" Allie barking, "Oh my god, seriously!? I know heroes can handle stuff like this, but this feels too sadistic!"

Many other members of the crowd seemed to agree. But just as they were ready to voice their objections, Scorbunny gritted her teeth and growled, "It's like you said, Allie. I'm a hero, so I can deal with this," lifting her head up and ignoring the blood dripping out of the back of her head, "Even if these spikes were bigger, this wouldn't be nearly enough for me to give up."

While a part of Melmetal was not surprised by this, he still had a look of irritation in his eye. However, he quickly resumed a neutral look when he noticed his fans gazing at him. After all, he could not show any signs of bad sportsmanship.

To top it all off, he realized he still had a golden opportunity here. Thus when Scorbunny started to push herself upright and dig her hands further into the canvas, the cyborg extended his hand to her and enquired, "Hey, how about I give you a hand with that?"

Sure enough, he formed his fingers and aimed for her skull. But just as he was about to grab her, she smirked and placed a firm grip with her hands against the area just around the tips of the spikes they had been on. She then used them to flip herself back ninety degrees and perform a handstand while everyone stared in stunned silence. Afterwards, she leaned her body backward and flung herself forward with her feet on fire.

"INFERNO AXE!" she barked before flipping downward and planting her heels into Melmetal's skull. Afterwards, she proceeded to fold her arms and dance on that very spot, the British crowd along with her fans giving a round of applause.

"Damn!" Ben exclaimed with his eyes wide open, "That was incredible!" Rapidight nodding and replying, "Well, it certainly would have been disappointing if she had gone down that easily."

Melmetal narrowed his eye after Scorbunny delivered twenty four hits to him, thus he lifted his arms and spun the nuts on them while aiming them toward her side. But when he sent them inward toward her ribcage, she jumped over them, causing them both to collide. She then spread out her legs, lit them on fire and exclaimed, "SCORCHING MALLETS!"

With that, her heels landed on top of the cyborg's hands, and while this dealt less damage, he still winced in pain. It was clear that after how close she came to defeat, Scorbunny was not going to let him get the upper hand, not again.

As such, she leapt behind him and delivered a roundhouse to his back. Then with him distracted she jumped up and latched her legs around the bottom part of his head. The crowd stared in stunned silence while she sighed and thought, 'I know I'm taking a huge risk here, but I get the feeling this might just be able to finish him off. He's tough, really tough, but I bet even he couldn't possibly handle this.'

With that in mind, she propelled herself and Melmetal high into the air while everyone stared in shock, Morgrem gasping, "Wait, can she really afford to do that!?"

The others were equally concerned, but Scorbunny was fully confident. Thus she flipped her body three hundred and sixty degrees backward and shouted, "ASTEROID FRANKENSTEINER!" hurling the cyborg over the side of the ring.

The British crowd and most of the Edmontonians cheered wildly when the cyborg fell hard onto a bed of spikes. Scorbunny took many deep breaths after she landed and thought, 'Okay, come on, Scorbunny. You can handle it. You have to,' thus she followed her breaths up with the deepest one of all and wiggled her arms.

This seemed to at least take a little pressure off while Shaymin shouted, "Scorbunny just took a big risk! For those unaware, her family has the same handicap as the Torch Family, in that they can't pull off advanced techniques without putting a serious strain on themselves! But even so, it seems to have worked as now Melmetal is on the receiving end of the spike pit!"

But while many among the crowd were beyond ecstatic, the Russian crowd did not look the least bit concerned. And Allie did not even have to look at them to realize something was off herself. Thus she bit her lower lip and uttered, "Guys, I hate to say it, but I get the funny feeling that didn't make much of a difference."

"What do you mean?" Bailey enquired before Drizzile sighed, "She's right. Look closely at Melmetal."

Sure enough, there was no blood coming out of him at all. In fact, it looked like he had actually flattened the spikes under him, thus Shaymin blinked, looked closely and groaned, "Aw, man, they didn't hurt him at all, did they?" Tori slapping her forehead and shaking her head.

Scorbunny could see this herself, thus she thought, 'Oh no, I really should have expected that,' before Melmetal placed his hands against the floor and pushed himself up. However, when he stood, everyone was even more shocked. The spikes had not been flattened at all. Instead, his back had somehow pried them off of their respective mats, thus they were stuck in him.

Everyone was even more shocked when they seeped right into his liquid metal flesh. Scorbunny shook her head while Melmetal marched toward the ring, stomping on a few more spikes and absorbing them. He then chuckled and said, "I gotta hand it to you, that was an impressive move back there. But while that may have dealt pain to me, things like metal spikes have no real effect on me. If anything, they actually help me quite a bit."

Everyone would soon find out exactly what he meant when he held up his arms and exclaimed, "LIQUID METAL NAIL GUN!" his protrusions once again emerging from his body. This time, though, all the spikes he had absorbed shot out with them, Scorbunny's eyes and mouth wide with terror when they all flew into her. Blood squirted from her flesh while she groaned in pain and tried her hardest to stand up.

If the move she had used earlier had not taken enough out of her, the rain of spikes certainly seemed to. As such, Melmetal folded his arms and said, "Much like your friends, you put up a good fight, Scorbunny, but I have a country to represent."

With that in mind, he approached her with his arms raised and barked, "STEEL KNUCKLES!" ramming both nuts into her face.

The crowd watched in stunned silence while the rabbit coughed up blood, closed her eyes and fell on her back with her arms spread out. Drizzile breathed heavily and stared at Melmetal in fear. As if the cyborg had not been scary enough before, this had only made his chances of success look less likely.

The others were equally concerned as Tori started the ten count, Shaymin stating, "While Scorbunny had a nice comeback, it would seem Melmetal might have very well just claimed victory with that hard punch."

Sure enough, Tori reached ten seconds and rang the bell, exclaiming, "Well, folks, that concludes the semi-finals! Melmetal has won the match and will face Drizzile in the final round one week from today!" the Russian fans breaking out into heavy cheers and applause while various staff members entered the area and removed the spiked mats.

Allie bit her lower lip while Rolycoly trembled and uttered, "Oh my god, it's like he's invincible," Morgrem shaking her head and remarking, "Hey, Unown seemed invincible. I'm sure Drizzile's got this," turning to Drizzile and adding, "Right, Drizzile?"

Allie rested a hand on his shoulder and gave him a supportive smile. Thus he took a deep breath and nodded before he rose up from the ring and said, "Come on. Let's check on Scorbunny."

The group raced out of the bleachers and toward the ring while Melmetal gazed upon her and thought, 'Now there's only one of you left to oppose me. I gotta hand it to you. You almost got me to reveal all of my abilities.'

Once the others entered the ring, though, he faked a gasp and asked, "Oh no, did I bring too much harm to her as well?" the others not even dignifying this with a response. They all had this funny feeling he was faking it, even Bailey and Geneva.

Either way, medics soon raced toward the ring to load Scorbunny up onto a stretcher. Just as her friends were about to head off with her, Drizzile glared at Melmetal and said, "Watch yourself. Once a week passes, your winning streak ends," Allie staring at him in stunned silence. Once again, her heart skipped a beat while she blushed and wondered why.

Melmetal took a deep breath and replied, "Well, I can't just let you beat me, but I understand," the chameleon narrowing his eyelids and taking off with the others.

While Melmetal may have been a fellow hero and often displayed good sportsmanship, he was somehow more terrifying than even Unown. Even if it was just a competition, Drizzile still felt like he needed to win this match at all cost, even more than his fight with Centiskorch.


	39. Chapter 39

Note: For those wondering, yes, Scorchicken is Mega Blaziken.

It was not long until everyone was at the hospital. While they followed the medics to Scorbunny's room, Allie noticed the room where Ben and Rapidight were. Both smiled weakly and waved to her and the others before Drizzile said, "Hey, you guys go on ahead."

Morgrem was about to question this only for Rolycoly to shake his head and signal her to follow. Thus she headed off with the others while Drizzile entered.

"I gotta say, you were mighty fine in your match with Unown," Rapidight said with a grin, "I still can't believe it," Ben nodding and adding, "Yeah. It's incredible how far you've come."

"Oh, yeah, thanks," Drizzile uttered with a light blush, "Just so you know, you don't need to tell me to take down Melmetal. After what he did to Scorbunny, or rather all of my friends, I don't intend to let him walk away with the championship belt."

"Good," Ben replied with a grin, "I mostly just wanted to tell you something else. Rapidight here will be able to leave the hospital soon," the unicorn adding, "He's right. And once I do, we'll gladly help you train for your match."

The chameleon stared at the two of them briefly. A part of him did not wish to get them involved, but he knew he would certainly need their help. As such, he smiled and bowed his head, replying, "Thank you so much. That would be great."

All the while, the others looked over Scorbunny. Geneva groaned, "Damn, she took in less hits than Rillaboom yet that still looked far more brutal," Bailey nodding and uttering, "I hope Drizzile will be okay."

Suddenly, they heard a voice say, "Same here." The group turned and noticed Corviknight right behind them with his arms folded as he said, "Hello."

All of them screamed in terror until a nurse poked her head into the room and shushed them. Thus they pursed their lips before Morgrem said, "Hey, you're okay," before frowning and grunting, "And where were you during Scorbunny's match?"

"Oh, I just made a full recovery," the raven replied, "Believe me, I wish I could have been there to watch all of your matches. Though from what I heard, it sounds like Melmetal is even worse than I thought."

"Yeah, he really is," Allie replied, "Every time we think we've seen all he can dish out, he shows off a new ability. I get the feeling there's probably a few more that he's been saving for Drizzile's match," a smile on her face while she added, "But I'm sure he'll win. He's made so much progress, there's no way he could possibly lose."

Corviknight nodded and replied, "Oh yes, to think he made it all the way to the finals. He really has come a long way," sighing, "I just hope Vaporeon will be conscious for his match. It's a week from today, right? That gives her plenty of time."

"Well, there is another reason she needs to wake up," Geneva replied, the others staring at her, "I did a bit of research. Turns out eight previous fighters are selected to arrive as special guests for the event, including the finalists. I have no doubt her mom's probably gonna be among them."

Corviknight stared wide-eyed while Rolycoly blinked and uttered, "I'm surprised I didn't know that," Allie adding, "Me too," feeling a twinge of jealousy, especially since she had been friends with heroes long enough to get information like this.

At that moment, Drizzile entered the area and noticed Corviknight. He blinked and uttered, "Oh, you're up," the raven turning to face him and replying, "Why yes, I am. And I have to say, good show today. I mean, I wasn't awake to see it, but I heard the announcers on the telly."

The chameleon nodded and said, "Yeah. It was rough, but I pulled through in the end," asking, "So, how long do they think she'll be here?"

The others stared in confusion before they realized what he meant. As such, Allie sighed, "Well, apparently, she and Rillaboom might still be in the hospital when your match comes around. Apparently, Scorbunny's injuries aren't quite as bad, so they might still be awake to see it, but don't expect them to be in the audience."

The chameleon bit his lower lip and tensed up. As much as he hated to admit it, he did not like the idea of facing Melmetal without so much as one of the two there in person to support him. But even so, he had to do this. After all, he beat Runerigus without anyone present.

"Well, I just hope they rest easy," he said with a light smile before he and the others turned to leave the hospital. After all, they had a lot of work ahead of them, but right now, Drizzile needed to head home and get as much rest as possible.

He and Allie decided to head home together, thus they waved goodbye to the others. Corviknight offered to carry Drizzile to his house, but he ultimately declined the offer. After all, the raven had only just recovered. The last thing he needed was to carry someone on his back.

But just as they were about to head toward Vaporeon's house, Allie bit her lower lip and enquired, "Hey, Drizzile, you wanna spend the week at my place?"

The chameleon blinked and remarked, "What?" before the girl sighed, "Well, look, no offence, but I'm a little worried about your health. I mean, you can't really cook, right?"

Drizzile was about to retort only to bite his lower lip and rub his arm with a blush on his cheeks. As much as it pained him to admit it, she was right about that. And with both Scorbunny and Vaporeon in the hospital, he would likely have to rely on frozen dinners to keep him going, and those would not help to keep him physically fit.

As such, he took a deep breath and said, "Well, as long as your family's okay with that, I think it should be fine," Allie beaming bright and squealing, "Oh, trust me, it'll be perfect! Besides, Mom's got some weights and an exercise bike in the basement you can use!"

Drizzile had the biggest smile on his face when he held the girl in a tight embrace. He held her for a few seconds and sighed, "Thank you for everything. Seriously, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be in the finals. Hell, I probably would have died against Runerigus!"

Allie wrapped her arms around him and backed up lightly before she said, "Well, if it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have made friends at all," the two gazing into each other's eyes. Then after a few seconds, the chameleon rested his hands on Allie's shoulders and stood on the tips of his toes before pressing his lips up against hers.

Allie's eyes widened before he backed away and bit his lower lip, his entire body blood red. But just as he was about to question every decision he had ever made in his life, he was shocked when Allie chuckled and kissed him on the cheek. Needless to say, Drizzile could not have been happier.

The following day, many people were gathered by the airport in anticipation while a news reporter stood by and stated, "I am here outside the Edmonton International Airport where everyone is excited to meet eight former participants. However, it has been revealed that this year, there will be an additional celebrity joining us. And of course, all of them have been selected by Hero Planet's government to grace us with their presence after years of retirement. But while their presence is a treat in itself, four of them will put on a special performance for all of us before the final match begins, so be sure to check that out when it happens."

Soon enough, a plane landed as everyone grew tense. They could not help but wonder who exactly was going to emerge. After all, some were chosen based off of how far they had gotten in the tournament while others were simply chosen for making it to the tournament in the first place.

The first couple of guests headed out the door. Everyone smiled at the sight of an orange cat and a green, brown and white owl dressed in a hood made from leaves while the reporter said, "And the first two to emerge are Torracat and Decidueye! While both fought each other in the first round of the tournament, they're also childhood friends and once teamed up to help save the world from the Ultra Beasts!"

Both waved to the crowd while Decidueye squealed, "Wow! They really love us!" Torracat sighing, "You didn't think they would?"

As it so happened, Torracat was Incineroar's mother, and luckily, he had decided to join the crowd outside. As such, a big grin formed on his face before he waved both hands over his head and called out to her. While it should have been difficult to hear him over the big crowd, his voice was loud and booming, so both older heroes noticed him right away.

"Well, look at that," Decidueye chuckled, Torracat's eyes sparkling while a big open-mouth smile formed. As such, she pointed her finger up in front of a nearby reporter's face and said, "Hold on," before she signalled the crowd to step aside for her.

Since she did have a good reputation, everyone decided to respect her decision as she said, "Don't worry, I'll get to autographs and interviews soon. I got someone I need to see," racing toward the tiger who spread out his arms and held her in a tight embrace once she was close enough. But while this was a very touching moment, most people could not help but think about how short the cat was compared to her son.

"I knew they'd choose you as a special guest!" he exclaimed, "You're almost as awesome as me!" Torracat narrowing her eyelids and hissing, "Is that any way to talk to your mother?"

Both stared silently at one-another before the cat broke out into hysterics and exclaimed, "That's my boy!" Decidueye all the while tried not to release tears but could not help it as he used his wing as a tissue. After he blew his beak into it, his eyes widened while he stared awkwardly at it.

Luckily, the attention turned away from him when the next guest emerged. This one was a purple coconut crab with antennae that looked like pointy hair. Next to him was his wife, a tall black fox with yellow ring-shaped markings on her forehead, arms and legs. She was Umbreon, Vaporeon's aunt.

The reporter stared and gasped, "Wow, folks, the next two to grace us are the one who won second place, Umbreon and her husband slash partner in crime fighting, Crabrawler! These two were a real force to reckoned with back in the day."

Crabrawler looked among the crowd and said, "It feels good to be in the spotlight again," Umbreon nodding and saying, "Yes, though I'm afraid of how my sister's gonna act once she exits those doors."

The next two to emerge were a green caterpillar named Caterpie and the red wolf, Lycanroc. Since the wolf's arms were almost always slouched, it was easy for the two to hold hands while they basked in the cheers and applause they received.

"Of course, today would not be complete without Caterpie, the only Olympic contestant in history to represent Hero Planet," the reporter stated, "Granted, he did get special treatment due to him being, well, the former chairman's son, but he did certainly impress the world by advancing to the second round. And joining him is our additional guest, Lycanroc! Originally, she was not to be among the group, but since she's Caterpie's wife, the government decided to make an exception."

Lycanroc bit her lower lip and uttered, "Wow, it's been so long since I had a big crowd come to see me," Caterpie patting her on the back and replying, "Yeah, it's great, isn't it?"

But of course, the true stars of the hour were just about to emerge. Everyone waited in anticipation when sure enough, Eevee and Popplio entered the area. Both waved to the adoring crowd while the reporter stated, "And even though these two did not even make it to the finals back in the day, they were Tokyo's top heroes and made for an impressive tag team as well!"

While both were beyond ecstatic to see so many smiling faces, they soon spotted their friends and ran over to them. Umbreon held the brown fox in a tight embrace and said, "Good to see you, sis," Eevee squealing, "Yeah, I get that!"

The black fox narrowed her eyelids until her sister giggled, "Come on, you must have gotten a sense of humour over the years," Crabrawler giving her a light wave.

However, there was still one more, the world champion herself. Everyone watched in anticipation when a red, white and black chicken emerged. With flames flowing from her wrists, this was Ben's mother, Scorchicken.

The crowd cheered the loudest they had all day while the reporter exclaimed, "And gracing us is the former champion herself, Scorchicken! Her match with Umbreon is legendary! While it was one of the shortest final matches in Olympics history, it was also one of the most intense!"

Scorchicken waved to the cheering crowd before she spotted Umbreon and the others. As such, she walked over to them and said, "Howdy."

Eevee beamed bright and squealed, "Scorchicken!" giving her a big hug as the chicken sighed, "You're as full of energy as ever, I see," Popplio chuckling, "Oui. Even after all these years, you can't take our spirit away."

Umbreon gave the chicken a smile and bowed her head, saying, "It's very nice to see you," before Scorchicken grinned and patted her on the shoulder. Needless to say, this was quite the reunion.

Even so, the heroes had a number of adoring fans to satisfy, thus most of them agreed to meet up at a restaurant for lunch. Torracat declined as she wanted to spend time with her son while he was still in Edmonton. Of course, Eevee, Popplio and Umbreon would only stick with the others for a little bit as they had their own plans as well.

As it so happened, Vaporeon had finally woken up for good today. While she was still too weak to partake in any fights, at least she was able to leave the hospital, thus she stepped outside and breathed in the fresh air. A big smile formed on her face as she thought, 'Now to head back. I hope Drizzile didn't miss me too much.'

While she was unaware of the fact that he had agreed to spend the week at Allie's, she did know of the others' condition. As such, she could not help but worry about him all on his own. So when she returned home, she stood silently when she noticed it was completely empty, though she figured Drizzile must have been hard at work right now.

Sure enough, he was. He was currently sparring with Rapidight in Allie's back yard, the girl and Ben there to watch him when she heard his phone ring from a bag he had brought with him. As such, she took it out, noticed the caller ID and gasped, squealing, "Drizzile, you have a phone call!"

The chameleon blinked and turned just in time for Rapidight to deliver a roundhouse into his cheek. A nervous grin formed on her face as she uttered, "Sorry," Drizzile rubbing the spot and shrugging his shoulders before walking over to Allie.

As soon as he saw who the call was from, he immediately pressed the green icon and held the phone up to the side of his head before he said, "Hey, Vaporeon. You're calling me right now. Does that mean you're all better?"

"Yep," the fox replied with a big grin, "I haven't made a full recovery, but I can function well enough. I'm guessing you're off training somewhere, right?"

"Yeah," the chameleon replied with a light chuckle, "I hope you don't mind, but Allie's offered to let me stay at her place for the rest of the week. I can come back if you'd like, but-"

"If Allie's okay with you staying over, I won't stand in the way of that," Vaporeon replied with a light smile, "I'll come over if you'd like. I may not be in good enough condition to spar, but I can cheer from the sidelines."

"I think we'd all like that," Drizzile replied with a grin, "Just hearing your voice is music to me. Though there are a few things you'll need to know. A, Allie's made some new friends. They're not here right now, but they will be later."

"That's fantastic!" Vaporeon squealed, "Did you help her out with that?" the chameleon chuckling, "Surprisingly," Allie smiling sweetly before she nudged him on the side and whispered, "Tell her the other thing."

Drizzile nodded and said, "Oh yeah. Um, Allie and I are a couple as of yesterday," the fox smirking and replying, "Oh, you little devil. So you finally mustered up the courage. Seriously, making it to the finals and getting the girl. You have come a long way."

Allie chuckled at the sound of this before Drizzile blinked and said, "Hold on. I should put you on speaker so everyone can talk to you."

When he did so, everyone enjoyed a nice conversation with Vaporeon. Brian and Wendy eventually joined in when they entered the back yard with refreshments for their guests. Much like Drizzile, they were just happy to hear her voice. Sure, Rapidight did not really know her, but Ben was good friends with her, so that made it easier for the unicorn to join in.

After a few more minutes, Vaporeon gave the others a nice goodbye and hung up. She then took a deep breath and thought, 'Wow, it's amazing how much you can miss in a week.'

But just as she was ready to head off, she turned on the TV to see if there were any news stories to get caught up on. When she noticed a report talking about how nine heroes of the past, including her own parents, were in Edmonton, she let out a gasp.

It was not so much the fact that they were in Edmonton that surprised her. If anything, she knew they would all be chosen to host the Olympics. But from what Eevee and Popplio had told her, the government typically waited for the day before the final match to bring in the special guests. And as much as she wanted to visit Drizzile right now, a part of her also wanted to meet up with her folks.

With that in mind, she bit her lower lip and immediately selected Eevee's number on her contacts list. It only took two seconds for her mother to answer and ask, "Vaporeon, is that you? We heard you were still unconscious."

She then grinned wide while seated in a fast food restaurant with the others, held her phone away from her ear and whispered, "Guys, Vaporeon's awake," Popplio and Umbreon both beyond happy to hear that. This meant they could have a real visit with her.

She then rested the phone against her ear again and talked to Vaporeon for a little while before she put her on speaker and allowed her to talk to the others. Unlike Drizzile's group, everyone dining with Eevee had known Vaporeon since shortly after her birth, so she recognized each and every one of their voices right away.

After a bit of talking, the blue fox said, "Anyway, I'm gonna go meet up with my friends soon, but I'll probably only spend a little while with them. I should be home by around five thirty."

"Okay," Eevee replied with a big smile, "We'll be sure to stop by around then," Popplio adding, "I'll make sure your mother doesn't come too soon."

"I know you will," Vaporeon chuckled, "Bye. I love you," the others giving a nice goodbye before she hung up. In truth, she fully intended to get home by four at the latest, but she had a reason for telling them to come later.

When she arrived at Allie's house, Bailey and Geneva had already come over along with Rolycoly and Morgrem. And while Vaporeon was happy to meet the human girls, they were unable to contain their excitement. After all, they had only seen her unconscious in the hospital, yet here she was talking to them.

All it took was a few minutes for her to find she got along with them well. And of course, she also got to know Rapidight while Ben sparred with Drizzile.

Ben sent a barrage of punches toward the chameleon only for him to block each strike with a grin on his face. All the while, Vaporeon smiled and said, "He really has gotten so much better."

"Yeah," Allie sighed with her chin rested against her hands, "If anyone can beat Melmetal, it's him. Seriously, he found Unown's weakness when no one else could figure out how to hurt him," sighing, "I just hope Rillaboom and Scorbunny can wake up in time to see him in action."

"I know what you mean," Vaporeon sighed, "Those three have been together for so long. Still, I'm sure he can manage," Allie nodding and adding, "Yeah. He has all of us there to cheer him on. I know he can do it."

Drizzile eventually managed to grab Ben's wrist and pin him to the ground, the boy smirking and quipping, "You think you can beat a Torch with a submission hold!?" wriggling his wrist out of his hold before flipping himself upright and ramming his skull into the chameleon's chin.

Rapidight clapped and shouted, "Way to go, Ben!" Vaporeon suddenly remembering something as she looked up at the sun. She then nodded and got up, thus Drizzile signalled a time out and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Oh, sorry," the fox said with a nervous grin, "I need to meet up with my parents and auntie," Bailey whining, "Aw, come on! You only just got here!" Rolycoly uttering, "Besides, didn't you say they were coming over at five thirty?"

"Yeah, but I'm planning on surprising them with a big feast when they get there," Vaporeon replied with a light smile, "And I need at least an hour and a half to work on it."

Drizzile and Allie both nodded in understanding while Geneva and Bailey stared at her in admiration. They had to admit, that was very commendable and it made Bailey want to do something similar someday. She would definitely need to ask Vaporeon for lessons later.

Sure enough, the fox returned home before four o'clock, leaving her with more than enough time to prepare a big feast for her folks. She had even stopped to pick up groceries on the way back so she could make them dishes she knew they would love.

Since Popplio was big on fish and Eevee's favourite food was Pad Thai, she decided to make the most logical step and make Fish Pad Thai. Along with it, she prepared imperial rolls and an oriental salad. And thankfully, she managed to get all of this done just in time for the doorbell to ring.

As such, she made her way over to it and opened it with a big smile, Eevee squealing, "Hi, sweetie!" holding her in a tight embrace while Popplio chuckled, "Hey, come on. Don't hog her all to yourself."

He then gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek before Umbreon smiled and said, "Nice to see you, kid. For someone just out of the hospital, you're looking great."

Vaporeon chuckled, "Yeah. Well, I can't fight for a while, but at least I can do other things. In fact, I did something extra special for all of you."

Sure enough, when she led them into the kitchen, they were all beyond thrilled. Thus they sat down immediately and dug in. Since Popplio was the one who had taught her and Eevee how to cook, his input mattered the most to her, so she was of course happy when he gave her a round of applause.

But while things looked up for now, there was still Drizzile's match coming up. Would he truly be ready to face Melmetal? Only time would tell.


	40. Chapter 40

It had been a whole week since Eevee and her friends arrived in Edmonton, which meant it was almost time for the final match to begin. Shaymin had told everyone to gather at the Commonwealth Stadium. After all, it seemed like the perfect spot to hold such a big event.

Of course, during that time, Drizzile had trained hard. While Vaporeon had been unable to help him out, Ben and Rapidight proved very helpful. And while Rillaboom and Scorbunny were unable to leave the hospital, the chameleon had received word that they had thankfully woken up and had enough strength to watch his match on TV.

As much as he would have preferred to have them there to cheer him on, he was just glad to know that all of his friends were conscious. And of course, Grimmsnarl and his friends were all ready to tune in for the big event.

Eevee and Popplio were unable to join Vaporeon at the entrance. After all, they and the others had to arrive three hours before everyone else to get ready for their own contribution. Needless to say, the blue fox could not wait to see what they had in store.

Of course, the others were equally excited when they met up with her, Brian and Wendy having dropped Allie and her friends off. Seeing as this was a really big deal, they had decided to join their daughter in the bleachers today and give Drizzile additional support.

Brian rested a hand on Allie's shoulder and said, "Feel free to take your time. Your mom and I will save you all front row seats," Wendy smirking and adding, "Damn straight. I'll make sure no one claims them before us!"

Thus she signalled her husband to hurry it up. The man chuckled and took off with her, both waving to her daughter and the others. Allie gave a light chuckle and returned the gesture before Geneva said, "I gotta say, your mom's pretty cool."

At that moment, Bailey grinned at Vaporeon and squealed, "Hey, I tried that recipe you taught me yesterday! My dads loved it!" the blue fox smiling sweetly and replying, "Well, that's great to-"

She then blinked and uttered, "Wait, your dads?" Bailey chuckling, "Oh yeah, I guess I should have you guys over sometime. You'd love them," the others turning to each other and shrugging.

Whatever the case, Morgrem grinned and squealed, "Come on, guys! Let's go! I wanna see what this big event they've been building up is!" the others nodding and heading onward. Vaporeon knew full well what the event in question was. They held it before the final match every single time, but she did not wish to spoil the surprise for everyone else. She just wondered if her parents would be involved with it or not.

But while the group headed to the bleachers, Allie said, "Hey, you guys go on ahead," Bailey about to question this when the others simply nodded in understanding and signalled the tan girl to join them. After a few seconds, she gasped, "Oh! Okay, I get it!" giggling and heading off with the group.

Sure enough, Allie headed to a secluded area where Drizzile was hard at work. He had trained his stealth and mastered his best defensive technique. Now all he could do was work on his physical strength, which he did by unloading a barrage of palm punches into a dummy made of iron. He figured if he could deal damage to a substance like this, Melmetal would not stand a chance.

Allie opened the door and gave it a light knock, the chameleon blinking and turning toward her. He smiled and said, "Hey, darling," Allie chuckling, "You know you don't have to give me pet names."

She then approached him and gave him a peck on the cheek before she said, "Anyway, I'm just here to wish you luck. I know you got this in the bag, but it doesn't hurt to get a little boost, eh?"

"Well, it certainly is appreciated," Drizzile replied with a sweet smile, "Anyway, you should probably go and see the big event. You can tell me all about it later," Allie nodding and replying, "Of course, though I'll make sure to record it to just in case I forget all the best details."

Drizzile nodded and gave her a quick hug before she headed off and waved. While the chameleon's spirits were high before, they had reached their peak now. There was no way he could lose.

It was not long until the bleachers were filled, Shaymin squealing, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, thank you all so much for coming an hour early! While there is a final match coming, we have a special treat for all of you! As is tradition, we will have four contestants from the previous Olympics come in and partake in a tag team exhibition match!"

The crowd's excitement grew while Allie uttered, "Wow, that is so cool," stars forming in Bailey and Geneva's eyes. They could not believe they would be able to see four legends face off in person.

"Oh yeah, I've been looking forward to this," Brian said with a grin, "You think one of those teams will be Eevee and Popplio?" Wendy replying, "I'll bet you twenty five bucks it's gonna be Eevee and Umbreon. After all, those two beat Nihilego, which was a much bigger deal back then."

"Wow, I have so much history to catch up on," Rolycoly uttered, "To think we wouldn't even be here to witness this if we hadn't learned our lesson," Morgrem nodding and replying, "Yeah. This is a momentous occasion."

"In the red corner is a true dream team that defeated a very powerful duo back in the day!" Tori exclaimed, "And while they may have lost a little strength over the years, their spirit and energy is unmatched! Give it up for the Circus Duo!" Wendy's jaw dropped when Eevee entered the area on top of Popplio.

She was currently using him like a surfboard while he slid on his belly across the walkway. Then when the two got close, the brown fox leapt into the air and spun vertically like a wheel onto the mat, performing a handstand. This was followed by Popplio slapping his tail against the floor and propelling himself into the air, balancing his nose on Eevee's feet after she cupped them together.

"Well, well, well, looks like you owe me twenty five bucks," Brian said with a smirk before Wendy sighed and pulled out her wallet, her eyes narrowed.

The crowd went wild while Popplio propelled himself off of the feet and landed perfectly on his tail. He laughed and exclaimed, "That was tres magnifique! Oh, how I missed the thrill!" Eevee nodding and blowing kisses to the crowd.

"That was amazing!" Bailey cried with her mouth and eyes wide open, "Why didn't you tell me your parents were so cool, Vaporeon!?" the blue fox chuckling, "I guess I should have mentioned that sooner."

"And in the blue corner is another incredible duo," Tori stated, "While these two never actually teamed up for a single match, they were partners in Osaka for a long time and, much like our first team, eventually settled down and got married! Presenting the Dynamic Decapods!"

Many were confused by the name but still cheered nonetheless when Umbreon and Crabrawler simply walked toward the ring and waved to the crowd. When the black fox entered, Eevee sighed, "Oh, come on, you couldn't give us a real entrance!? It's been, like, forever since you were in the ring!"

"Yes, and unlike you, I take my entrances seriously," Umbreon sighed only for Crabrawler to utter, "But you always believed in putting on a good show to keep the audience calm and hopeful."

The black fox stood still for a few seconds before sighing, "Dammit, and I can't redo that," Popplio chuckling, "Oh, come on, you looked intimidating enough. What matters is how you do in our match."

"Oh yeah, and I'm gonna beat your ass this time!" Eevee quipped before Umbreon retorted, "As if! I'm gonna show the world why I made it to the finals and not you!"

"Is this normal?" Morgrem uttered, Vaporeon sighing, "You should see them during Christmas," as Shaymin rang the bell. Eevee raced toward Umbreon and aimed a roundhouse toward her face only for the black fox to block it with ease.

Eevee had seen this coming, thus she swung her free leg into Umbreon's face, causing her to back up while the crowd cheered. The brown fox then latched her ankles around Umbreon's neck and leaned backward, planting the back of her head into the canvas with a frankensteiner.

However, before Eevee could release her, Umbreon latched onto her neck and countered with a frankensteiner of her own, the crowd going wild as Shaymin squealed, "And Umbreon gets the upper hand with a reverse frankensteiner! There's that skill she's known for!"

Of course that was not the end, though, as Umbreon leapt toward the turnbuckle and quipped, "Even at my current age, I can still use this perfectly!" leaping onto the top and spinning her body around until it looked like a shuriken.

Eevee immediately leapt backward toward the opposite pole and spun as well, forming a small brown whirlwind around herself. With that, both flung themselves toward one-another, Umbreon shouting, "SWIRLING NIGHT BLADE!" while Eevee squeaked, "SWIRLING MORNING SQUALL!"

Once both pressed up against each other, sparks flew from them. However, Eevee remembered how years ago, Umbreon's move overpowered hers. As such, she used her tail to lift herself above the black fox's head and stopped spinning, ramming her feet hard into her sister's skull.

The crowd went wild as she jumped off of Umbreon and back flipped over to Popplio, asking, "You want a turn, honey?" the seal replying, "Oui, mon amour."

Thus he slapped his flipper against her hand and jumped into the ring before Umbreon smirked, turned to Crabrawler and said, "Guess you deserve a shot too, eh, darling?"

The crab nodded and replied, "If you insist," before giving his wife a high five and climbing over the rope. Needless to say, he and Popplio were more than ready to show off their skills while the audience loved every second of this.

All the while, Melmetal was hard at work in a training facility of his own. Though while Drizzile used a dummy to practice his moves on, the cyborg unleashed all his might on a big metal girder he had taken from a construction site. Luckily, the owner had no intention of using it, so he was able to get away with it.

He narrowed his eye and thought, 'So far, all of Edmonton's heroes have been a good challenge, though Drizzile I can tell is gonna be the most difficult. That ability he used on Sandaconda and Unown will be a pain. But I know I can beat him. He may be stronger than he looks, but not by much. As soon as this match is over, I can finally drop the nice guy act.'

With that in mind, he sent his right hexagonal nut into the middle of the girder and managed to slice it in half, though how he managed to pull that off with a flat end was a mystery. Whatever the case, he was even scarier now than he had been before.

Meanwhile, Crabrawler unloaded an onslaught of punches toward Popplio while the seal blocked them with his flippers. After a while, the crab managed to expand the size of his fist and shouted, "POWER-UP PUNCH!" aiming over the flippers and punching Popplio hard in the forehead.

The seal gasped and rolled backward into the ropes before bouncing off and into the air. He then flipped vertically and rammed his tail into the crab's skull, barking, "BOUNCING BALL STRIKE!"

"Oh, I see," Allie uttered as she looked at Vaporeon, "That's where your Bouncing Ice Ball technique came from," Vaporeon nodding and replying, "Yeah. My fighting style is a combination of Mommy's and Daddy's, though mostly Daddy's since I got his typing."

This was made especially clear when Popplio wrapped his flippers around Crabrawler and bounced into the air. He then leaned backward and shouted, "TRAMPOLINE SUPLEX!" planting the back of his head into the canvas.

At that moment, Tori rang the bell and exclaimed, "That's now two minutes! Thus this match will now become a tornado tag match!" Eevee squealing, "Yes! Now the real fight begins!"

But rather than just entering the ring, the brown fox leapt onto the top rope, bounced off and rolled up into a wheel. She then spun vertically toward Crabrawler and squealed, "FLYING FOX WHEEL!" Bailey gasping, "That's the move Unown used on Drednaw!" the crab folding his arms in front of his face just in time to avoid taking in too much damage from the strike.

Umbreon frowned and leapt next to Crabrawler, saying, "Come on, honey, let's give them a taste of teamwork."

The crab nodded and raced toward Eevee. The brown fox was just about to respond only for him to take hold of her wrists and plant his antennae into her chest. Umbreon, meanwhile, avoided a strike from Popplio and leapt up onto his shoulders, latching her legs around them. She then lifted him high into the air, leaned forward and grabbed his tail, pulling it up so his face was aimed at the canvas.

Crabrawler saw her descend with a black aura all around her and leapt backward himself, pressing Eevee up against Popplio after flipping her upside down. Thus both lovers shouted, "LUNAR BLADE CRASH!" and planted their opponents' skulls into the mat.

The crowd went wild as Eevee and Popplio seemed to be down for the count. But when Crabrawler and Umbreon breathed heavily, both opponents grinned at one-another, flipped themselves into the air and landed behind the black fox and crab.

Both wrapped their arms around their opponents and leapt into the air. Eevee latched her legs and tail to Umbreon to trap her in place while her eyes widened, Popplio curling his tail and bouncing high into the air. Once high enough, both flipped one hundred and eighty degrees, Crabrawler's head soon pressed up against Umbreon's feet. Eevee and Popplio then proceeded to spin and shout, "TRAMPOLINE FOX TWISTER!" the back of Umbreon's head hitting the canvas hard before she and Crabrawler coughed up blood.

The crowd's cheers could not have been louder while Shaymin squealed, "Wow! Not only did Eevee and Popplio come out on top, but we even got to see that infamous team move that beat Solgaleo and Lunala back in the day! I am so glad I got to see this!"

The others could not have agreed more, Bailey squealing, "Wow, Vaporeon, your folks are awesome!" Morgrem nodding and adding, "Seriously, that finisher was sweet!"

The blue fox giggled, "Yeah, they're the best," before whistling to both of them. Thus they turned to face their daughter and waved to her with big smiles on their faces, Umbreon and Crabrawler slowly rising up and sighing.

"Yep, guess your sister's the better fighter after all," Crabrawler groaned before Umbreon chuckled, "I guess so. Oh well, she's earned this moment."

With all said and done, Eevee and Popplio walked over to Umbreon and Crabrawler to make sure they were okay. Both had deliberately weakened their moves just a little bit to make sure neither one took in too much damage, and they were relieved to see their plan had worked. And after that, they all walked out of the ring to rest up, but not before giving Vaporeon a quick wave.

"Damn," Rolycoly uttered, "I can see why both have such a strong reputation," Vaporeon sighing, "Yeah," a look of slight discomfort on her face. Though why her spirits had suddenly dropped like that was anyone's guess.

Once all four older fighters had left the area, Shaymin stated, "Stick around, folks, for we only have a little less than an hour left before the final match of the Hero Olympics tournament. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it."

Needless to say, the crowd could not wait, but of course, many of them got up to make sure they were ready to watch this. After all, none of them wanted a reason to leave the bleachers during the match.

Drizzile had finished all the training he needed to get in at this exact moment. He wiped sweat off of his forehead and sighed, "Yeah, I'm ready for this," thinking, 'I hope you're watching, Rillaboom, Scorbunny, Mom. I want you all to see me wipe the mat with Melmetal. He may not be a villain, but for some reason, I just don't feel good about the idea of letting him come out on top.'

All the while, the four legends just happened to pass by his room while Eevee laughed, "That was exhilarating. It's a real shame this might be the last time we ever fight in front of a crowd," Umbreon sighing, "You're just saying that 'cause you won."

"Still, I hate to say it, but it might be a good thing Vaporeon didn't advance to the finals," Crabrawler stated, "After all, if she had, she would have had to train instead of watching us fight," before uttering, "Why does it feel so weird to say that?"

"Whatever the case, we'll be sure to give Drizzile plenty of support," Popplio stated, "After all, he is Vaporeon's ami," the others nodding in agreement.

Soon enough, the hour had passed and everyone was ready. They had been patient, but now it was time for what everyone had waited for. But just as all the preparations had been made, most of the audience watched with confusion when Caterpie, Scorchicken, Decidueye and Torracat set up chairs and sat in front of the ring, each one seated on a separate side.

All the while, Lycanroc watched from the crowd and groaned, "I wish I could be down there with my love bug," Eevee and the others taking a seat next to her as the brown fox sighed, "Yeah, you'd think one of them would have been nice enough to give you their spot."

"You know how this works," Umbreon sighed, "Only those chosen by the government can partake in this. Special guests are only entitled to be here and nothing else," Lycanroc biting her lower lip before Eevee stared blankly at the black fox.

"Hey, look on the bright side," Crabrawler said with a nervous chuckle, "At least this way, you get to cheer and be as loud as you want. Those guys sitting down there aren't even allowed to move or turn away from the ring unless they have a reason."

This was made clear to the audience when Shaymin explained, "Some of you may be wondering why our other four representatives are seated around the ring. Simply put, they are there mainly to make sure both opponents adhere to the rules by keeping a super close eye on the ring. If either fighter acts out of line, they'll spot it immediately. And just so you know, they're allowed to use force if necessary."

Shaymin sounded especially excited when she said that last part, thus Tori turned to her and uttered, "You sound like you want them to break the rules," the hedgehog retorting, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Seriously, I'm starting to get real tired of your slander."

Tori was tempted to hit Shaymin for that but chose not to as she knew she had to be professional. As such, she took a deep breath and got ready to announce the fighters, both waiting to enter and dazzle the crowd with their skills. Though of course, each had his own reason for this.

Luckily, just as Drizzile had hoped, both Rillaboom and Scorbunny were awake to watch the event on TV. While the gorilla had enough strength to at least sit upright, Scorbunny was just barely able to face the screen. Either way, both were more than ready to watch Drizzile wipe the canvas with Melmetal.

Grimmsnarl, Samurott and Yanma, who had returned to Transylvania after Vaporeon's loss, were all tuned in to watch the match at the sea lion's house. And among the crowd were Incineroar, Ben, Wurmple and Rapidight with Corviknight a little ways from them. He wanted to sit with Allie and the others, but there were no more free seats when he got there.

And of course, Allie and the others were more than ready. Rolycoly had even teamed up with Geneva to make the best support sign yet, both excited to show it off.

"In the red corner, coming to us from Ireland is a fighter many of us didn't think would make it this far!" Tori exclaimed, "While he started off as the weak link of the Edmonton team, he has truly risen his way up in the world with incredible skill and a shocking amount of strength! He has bested Sandaconda, Incineroar and Unown and now he comes to amaze us again! Give it up for Drizzile!"

The majority of the crowd cheered wildly, including the many people from different countries when Drizzile entered the area. There were no special gimmicks this time, just a simple march toward the ring with a serious look in his eyes. He had heard about how finalists always entered like this no matter what. Even legendary fighters, Machoke and Eevee, both of which were known for their ridiculously over-the-top entrances had treated their biggest matches with this same level of respect.

Once he got close to the ring, he leapt high into the air and landed against the canvas with his arms spread out, Allie squealing, "LOOKING GREAT, HONEY!" the others equally impressed while he tried his best not to blush.

"No doubt Drizzile's gonna give it his all!" Shaymin stated, "After all, his opponent has bested all five of his allies here in Edmonton! I can only imagine the fire burning through him, which is kind of ironic considering he's a water type."

Tori nodded before pointing to the opposite side of the stadium and announcing, "And in the blue corner, representing Russia is a mighty metallic monster who is also respectful to all of his opponents! His abilities have certainly shocked and amazed all of us! With those skills, he has dominated Vaporeon, Rillaboom and Scorbunny! Everyone, give a great big cheer for Melmetal!"

While the Russian fans naturally cheered, even some of the Edmontonian spectators gave him a round of applause. After all, while Drizzile was their favourite to win the match, it was just as Tori said. Melmetal had truly impressed them with his skills.

Sure enough, much like Drizzile, the cyborg marched toward the ring with a serious look in his eye. Once he got close to the ring, he climbed up into it and gazed upon his opponent. He then extended his hand and said, "Here's to a good match."

Drizzile did not wish to look like a bad sport despite feeling just as intimidated by this as the others, so he returned the gesture and walked toward his own side of the ring. Melmetal did the same before both turned to one-another.

"Well, looks like they're both ready," Shaymin stated, "And so, without any further stalling, let's begin!" ringing the bell.


	41. Chapter 41

This was it. Now that the bell had been rung, Drizzile's match with Melmetal could finally begin. All of his friends were more than ready to give him all the support they could while Inteleon watched from back home and thought, 'There is nothing left for you to learn, Drizzile. You can beat him.'

Drizzile had to admit that he had not quite figured out a surefire opening strategy for this match. He could rush Melmetal, but then the cyborg could pull out some sort of countermeasure. And if he stood his ground, there were plenty of moves that could have possibly struck him. With that in mind, it seemed like his best option would be to start on the offensive.

As such, he took a deep breath and raced toward Melmetal with his hands covered in water. The cyborg started to vibrate and churn his body only for the chameleon to dash behind him and form a massive pair of mittens with the water. He then placed a firm grip against Melmetal's waist and shouted, "AQUATIC POWER MITTS!"

All went silent among the crowd when he leapt into the air and leaned backward, planting the back of Melmetal's head into the canvas. With that, the area erupted with cheers and applause while Shaymin squealed, "And Drizzile lands the first strike with a suplex made even more powerful thanks to his jumbo sized water gloves! Let's see what else he has in store!"

"You know, the others had some really good starts, and yet that one hit was somehow more impressive than all of them combined," Allie said as Bailey uttered, "Really? Scorbunny landed, like, three or four hits before getting struck."

"No, I see it," Morgrem stated with a grin, "Drizzile put more passion into that suplex than any other strike he's landed in the past. We might be seeing him at his best."

And sure enough, there was no way the chameleon would allow it to end there. As such, he leapt into the air and lathered his feet in water. He then formed a set of blades on his soles and exclaimed, "AQUATIC ICE SKATES!" planting them hard into Melmetal's chest. After Scorbunny's match, he knew better than to aim for the midsection.

The cyborg narrowed his eye and lifted up his arms, aiming them for Drizzile's sides. But just as he was about to send them inward, the chameleon leapt up just in time to avoid them and planted his blades into them instead. Finally, he flipped himself backward, cutting into the hands before landing a small distance from the cyborg while the crowd continued to cheer.

But while this seemed to deal pain, Drizzile did find it a tad confusing that there was no bloodshed. It was as if Melmetal had no blood inside of him at all, but that could not be. Steel type fighters usually had a mixture of blood and oil inside of them.

Even so, now was not the time to dwell on this as Melmetal rose to his feet and grunted, "Not a bad start. In fact, that was very impressive. But as you've seen up to this point, it'll take a lot more than that to bring me down."

With that in mind, he proceeded to shoot his long protrusions out of his belly and shouted, "LIQUID METAL FLYING BLADES!" Drizzile's eyes wide with shock along with those of his friends when his water blades shot out of Melmetal's torso and right over his shoulders.

Two cuts formed before blood squirted out, Drizzile crying out in pain and clutching onto the spots that had been slashed while Melmetal chuckled, "Were you not paying attention to my match with Scorbunny? I can absorb sharp objects and use them as weapons! And yes, it doesn't matter whether they're made of metal or not! I can still use them!"

It was at that moment that Drizzile looked down and noticed his feet were still covered in water but his blades were nowhere to be seen. He trembled and backed up while his friends watched with concern.

"You've gotta be kidding," Morgrem groaned before Allie whimpered, "Oh no. Most of his best moves are blade based."

Brian nodded with his eyes narrowed and grunted, "But even so, he has plenty of other good moves in his arsenal. I'm sure he can win without them, even if this probably throws his strategy off."

"Yes, of course," Wendy replied with a nod, "After all, he's good at working around disadvantages like this. I know he'll think of something."

Drizzile seemed to think so, thus he took a deep breath and grunted, "Alright, I guess I won't rely on certain techniques. That doesn't mean I can't beat you. I just need to rely on moves that I know will hurt you!"

Thus he raced toward Melmetal and unleashed a fierce karate chop into his side before dashing behind him and sending a roundhouse into his back. He then leapt up and dealt two karate chops to his cheeks. But just as the chameleon was about to distance himself, his eyes widened when Melmetal's collar started to spin much like the hexagonal nuts on his hands.

Since Drizzile was right up against them, he took in a fierce scrape to his midsection and flew backward, Melmetal barking, "GOLDEN GEAR!"

The crowd gasped before Rolycoly uttered, "How did it never occur to us that he could do something like that?" Morgrem groaning, "You're right. If he can do that with his hands, of course he can do that with his neck."

Of course, it did not end there. Now that Drizzile was once again distracted, Melmetal had to take full advantage of this. As such, he leapt high into the air before his body churned and inflated like a balloon. Drizzile's friends watched in horror while he exclaimed, "LIQUID IRON PRESS!"

When he descended toward the chameleon, Allie frowned and snapped, "Come on, Drizzile! You can avoid that easily!" the chameleon gasping and rolling to the side just in time for Melmetal to hit the canvas hard.

Drizzile slowly rose to his feet while his fans cheered, Shaymin exclaiming, "Melmetal truly surprised us with that trick he did with his collar, but Drizzile is still in the game! Though considering how much torment he took from Unown, is that really so surprising?"

But while the chameleon had avoided the move that beat Vaporeon, he could see how the others struggled so much against him. He was strong, really strong, so much so that even the most seemingly harmless moves in his arsenal felt like a meteorite to the face. Needless to say, he would really need to step up his game.

With that in mind, he waited for Melmetal to return to his normal size before leaping toward him and delivering a roundhouse to his face. He then latched onto the cyborg's head with his legs. After that, he propelled himself into the air to set up for a frankensteiner while the crowd's excitement grew.

However, his eyes widened when suddenly, Melmetal churned his liquid metal once more and expanded the size of his feet. Thus he implied a smile with his eye and asked, "Didn't think I could do that, did you?" Drizzile's eyes wide with terror.

Sure enough, Melmetal took full advantage of this and lifted up his arms. He then formed his fingers and took hold of Drizzile's sides. Sure enough, he sharpened the tips of the parts he had formed and jabbed them into the chameleon's skin, shouting, "LIQUID METAL ICE PICK!"

The Russian crowd cheered while he lifted Drizzile up and threw his arms downward, ramming the back of the chameleon's head into the canvas. As if the blood coming from the parts that had been stabbed were not bad enough, this one hit was enough for Drizzile to cough up the substance.

"Things are not looking good for Drizzile," Shaymin stated, "While he started off strong, that one strike from his own blades seems to have really thrown him off. Melmetal's already managed to draw blood from him three times while Drizzile has only landed one impressive hit so far."

As much as it pained the chameleon to admit it, the hedgehog had a point. He figured he could still get the upper hand even with more simple tactics, but right now, he was even worse off than the others, and the match had not even gone for five minutes yet.

However, he had little time to think of a way to get the upper hand back when Melmetal rose his hand into the air, saying, "Just so you know, I'm not giving you a chance to counter my moves. I gave your friends all sorts of opportunities and that made things much harder for me. It's nothing personal. After all, you seem like a cool guy, but again, I have a country to represent."

With that, he sent his hand toward Drizzile only for him to instinctively cover his hands in water and form his daggers. He then crossed them in front of his face only for Allie to squeak, "NO, DRIZZILE, DON'T!"

But it was too late. While this did stop Melmetal from lowering his hand briefly, it ultimately proved ineffective when the blades seeped into his hand. As such, all Drizzile had to protect himself were his hands, and while this kept his face from taking in the full brunt of the strike, Melmetal still managed to push said hands into his face, thus causing him pain regardless.

As if that was not enough, the hexagonal nut on that hand was now pressed up against Drizzile's forehead. Thus Melmetal started to spun it and shout, "HARD BUZZ SAW!" the metal scraping against that very spot thus causing the chameleon to cry out in pain once more.

Of course, things only got worse when the cyborg's body vibrated once again before he formed his protrusions and exclaimed, "LIQUID METAL FLYING BLADES!" the daggers shooting out and piercing Drizzile's shoulders. And unlike the ice skates earlier, these ones were stuck in his flesh with the tips right up against the mat, thus he was now trapped in place and unable to stop the onslaught to his forehead.

The Russian crowd cheered wildly while everyone else stared in horror. They could not believe things could be that easy for Melmetal. There had to be something Drizzile could do. After all, he made it to the finals for a reason.

Incineroar gritted his teeth and stood up, grunting, "Hey, what the hell, Drizz!? Are you seriously gonna take that shit!?" Wurmple blinking before Ben nodded and snapped, "Come on, Drizzile! This is nothing! Unown was way worse than this guy and you still managed to beat him! You don't need fancy blade based moves! You're awesome without them!"

Rapidight nodded and stated, "Damn straight! I checked out your match with Morgrem, and while you may have lost, you did use some pretty impressive moves against her! If you'd used full force, you would have won for sure!" Rolycoly staring at the goblin with concern only to feel relieved when she grinned and added, "She's right, Drizzile! You made it this far for a reason! Don't let us down!"

Melmetal all the while formed a neutral look on his eye while he said in a voice too quiet for anyone else to hear, "Those poor naive fools seriously think you can win. I may have prepared myself too much for this match. You only made it this far because your opponents just happened to suck more."

This was more than enough for Drizzile to ignore the pain to his forehead while he gritted his teeth. With that in mind, he lifted up his feet and rammed them into the sides of Melmetal's hand. This was just enough for him to wince and stop his attack. The chameleon then used all his might to pry his shoulders away from the mat and ignore the additional pain this caused him.

He then formed his big water gloves and leapt high into the air, shouting, "AQUATIC POWER MITTS!" sending them both downward and delivering a fierce two-handed karate chop to Melmetal's skull.

The stadium filled with cheers and applause while Drizzile distanced himself from Melmetal and breathed a sigh of relief. Sure, he was already battered and bruised, but this no longer mattered to him. This was not just for him. This was for all of his friends who had fallen to the cyborg's might.

But while Melmetal felt irritated by this, he simply took a deep breath and implied a smile with his eye, saying, "Wow, that was quite the comeback," Drizzile narrowing his eyelids and thinking, 'You think I'm just gonna forget what you said earlier? Admit it, deep down, you are a poor sport, and I'm gonna wipe that fake smile off your face soon enough.'

All the while, his friends all cheered while Wendy exclaimed, "Yeah, sock it to him!" Brian adding, "That's the Drizzile I came to support! Keep it up!"

Geneva and Rolycoly held up their sign that said 'Go, Drizzile' while Allie breathed a sigh of relief and nodded her head. And once again, this was all the motivation Drizzile needed. As such, he kept his gloves around his hands and clenched his fists before unleashing a barrage of rapid punches into Melmetal's gut.

When the cyborg sent his fists toward him, he simply held up his hands and blocked the incoming punches. He then propelled himself into the air and vaulted over to Melmetal's face, shouting, "Let's see you absorb this blade!" Finally, he turned himself around and sent the tip of his tail into the cyborg's forehead, barking, "CHAMELEON LANCE!"

Melmetal's eye widened before he fell backward and landed hard against the canvas, the crowd cheering wildly. And to top it all off, Drizzile ended his assault with an axe kick to Melmetal's face. Afterwards, he leapt backward and took a deep breath, wiping sweat off of his forehead.

"Things were looking awful, but Drizzile has managed an incredible comeback!" Tori stated, "It's just like the others said! Even without his blades, he's still a force to be reckoned with!"

"Wow, Vaporeon's friend is awesome," Eevee uttered with a smile, "Reminds me of me back in the day," Popplio replying, "More like all of us. We'd always do our best under the worst circumstances."

"Yep, good times," Umbreon sighed only for Crabrawler to retort, "I dunno, many of your earliest matches were really easy for you, like, amazingly so."

The black fox blinked before she shrugged her shoulders with a grin and uttered, "It's not my fault I'm awesome," the others lowering their eyelids and glaring at her.

Lycanroc simply chuckled, "Still, I hope this turns out like our matches normally did. If Vaporeon can't win the Olympics, then the least we can do is support her friend."

Melmetal took many deep breaths before he pushed himself back to his feet. But while this was slightly irritating, it was also a good challenge. This meant that if he won, it would feel much more satisfying. As such, he breathed one last breath and said, "Well, now I can see how you made it this far. But I'm not through just yet."

But even after saying that, he realized he would need to think of a strategy now. After all, if he tried his Jack Marble, Drizzile would likely use the same tactic Scorbunny had used to counter it. Currently, the chameleon had too much energy to be caught off guard.

With that in mind, he sent his fists toward Drizzile only for him to see this coming and leap over them. Unfortunately, though, it seemed that Melmetal knew he would do this. Thus he leapt up into the air, swung his arms upward and rammed his fists into the chameleon's chin.

Drizzile tensed up and thought, 'He's probably gonna try his Double Iron Crush! I'm ready for this!' forming his water gloves only for Melmetal to raise his arms over his head and send them crashing into his skull.

The crowd stared when the strike caused Drizzile to flip upside down and fall head-first into the canvas. And things only got worse when Melmetal shifted his body over him and inflated like a balloon, shouting, "LIQUID IRON PRESS!"

This time, the chameleon was unable to move, thus all but his head and shoulders were crushed beneath the cyborg's weight. He cried out in agonizing pain and coughed up more blood while the Russian fans went wild. The others stared in horror while Vaporeon gritted her teeth and growled, "Dammit! I was really hoping he wouldn't fall victim to that!"

Rillaboom and Scorbunny both watched in terror from the hospital. Deep down, they wished they could be there to cheer him on. They figured that might help him overcome this somehow.

Regardless, it looked as if this match would end up being surprisingly short when Shaymin stated, "And just as quickly as it came, Drizzile's advantage leaves him! Melmetal seems more than prepared as he has now struck the lizard with the same move that knocked Vaporeon unconscious for almost a week! Drizzile has sustained a lot in the past, but I'm not even sure Unown's worst can compare to being crushed by that much steel!"

Melmetal once again narrowed his eye and grunted, "Don't feel too bad. This was inevitable. You put up a good fight, but in the end, this match is mine."

Drizzile struggled to keep his eyes open while his friends shouted words of encouragement. He started to lose consciousness while he thought, 'No, this can't be. I can't lose, not after all that preparation.'

Inteleon, meanwhile, bit her lower lip and thought, 'It's fine, son. You did a very good job. Even if you lose, you can take pride knowing you did the best you could.'

And sure enough, Drizzile passed out as everyone stared silently. After a few seconds, Tori blinked and gasped, "Right!" before starting the ten count.

Melmetal then reverted to his normal size and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "Wow, that sure was a close one," Vaporeon gritting her teeth and growling, "Dammit! Come on, Drizzile!"

She then slammed her fists against the railing and barked, "You can do it! Get up! Drizzile! Drizzile!" the others nodding and joining in while Tori reached six seconds, Melmetal chuckling, "Oh my god. That's cute. They think that'll restore your energy."

However, his eye widened and the crowd stopped chanting Drizzile's name when the chameleon in question rose to his feet. However, now his eyes were closed, thus Allie smiled and said, "Drizzile's got this."

Melmetal stared and tensed up. He knew exactly what this meant. If he moved in the slightest, Drizzile would strike him for sure. But if he did not fight back, the chameleon would likely regain enough strength to be a legitimate threat again.

With that in mind, he took a deep breath and thought, 'No, this is the perfect time for me to use this,' thus he once again inflated his body. His protrusions then emerged from him as everyone except for the special guests knew exactly what was coming.

"JACK MARBLE!" he exclaimed before rolling toward Drizzile. Sure enough, he could sense the cyborg coming, thus he leapt to the side and sent a roundhouse toward him. However, the crowd gasped when he wound up hitting a protrusion instead of the cyborg's body. As a result, he was the one who took in pain to his ankle.

Drizzile rolled sideways away from Melmetal and breathed heavily but kept his eyes and ear holes closed. He figured this must have been a fluke, though he could not help but wonder what he had just hit. Unfortunately, it seemed this was not the end when the cyborg rolled toward him again.

Drizzile leapt into the air this time and sent a karate chop downward only to hit another protrusion, Melmetal thinking, 'That's it. He can only feel my movements when he does this. He has no way of knowing what moves I'm using, so as long as I continue to use Jack Marble, he won't be able to hit me.'

All the while, Inteleon watched this and gasped, "No, son! Stop attacking him! Keep your distance!" but of course, since she had yelled at her TV screen, this made no difference, not that he would have heard her even if she was there in person.

The others were equally concerned, thus Vaporeon spat, "Drizzile, he's protecting himself! You can't hit him with moves like that!" only for Allie to sigh, "That's not gonna work. In order for this technique to work, he has to shut off all sense of sight and sound. Right now, he can't hear anything."

Vaporeon bit her lower lip and whimpered, "It's bad enough Melmetal has all these abilities that I haven't seen before, but this is insane," the others nodding in agreement.

Drizzile attempted to dodge and counter each time Melmetal came close to him, but every single time, he wound up hurting himself. As such, he leapt as far away from the cyborg as possible and opened his eyes, now realizing his tactic would not work. Sure, he had wasted more than a minute of the time that he could use it, but it was better to save that remaining time for when he could make actual use of it.

When he saw Melmetal rolling toward him, he thought, 'Of course! That's why my attacks didn't work!' thus he took a deep breath before his mind added, 'Alright, that's it. I gotta use the same counter that Scorbunny used, but I have to make it count.'

As such, he watched Melmetal roll toward him and jumped into the air, but just as he prepared a karate chop and aimed for the cyborg's head, his eyes widened when the sphere expanded and covered that very spot. Even the Russian fans were shocked by this as Drizzile took in another strike, coughing up blood and flying backward into the top rope.

"Now this is a shock!" Shaymin squeaked, "It turns out Melmetal has always been able to hide his head! But why didn't he do that in his last match?" Tori explaining, "It's because if his head isn't showing, he can't see where he's going, so it makes sense he would save such a defensive tactic for when it's absolutely necessary."

Drizzile breathed heavily as Melmetal revealed his head again, saying, "Look at that. All your best tricks have failed you. I should have just used this from the start."

Drizzile leapt off the top rope just in time to avoid another strike, but Melmetal simply bounced off and pursued him again. Thus the chameleon was at a loss for ideas. What could he possibly do to counter such a move?


	42. Chapter 42

While Drizzile had pulled off many impressive moves, it seemed as if his match with Melmetal was as good as over. With the cyborg in the form of a sphere with long protrusions sticking out of him, it seemed as if there was no way to bring harm to him. And to make matters worse, it seemed the method Scorbunny used to counter this move had failed. What could Drizzile possibly do?

Vaporeon stared at this in horror and cried, "Come on! How can he possibly beat him now!?" Brian rubbing his temple and groaning, "I can't think of anything."

"I hate to say it, but Melmetal has a point," Wendy uttered, "If he had used this from the start, Drizzile wouldn't have stood a chance. If anything, Rillaboom and Scorbunny were probably the best opponents for him."

When Scorbunny and Rillaboom saw how much their friend was struggling, they gritted their teeth. They could not just sit around and watch this happen. As such, each one tried to get up from her bed.

Scorbunny cried out in pain and lay back down, groaning, "I still can't move! But I need to be there!"

Rillaboom, on the other hand, actually managed to stand. Her legs wobbled a little bit, but they were still strong enough to support her. As such, she breathed heavily while a light smile formed on her face, a nurse entering and gasping, "Rillaboom, you shouldn't be up right now! You still need rest!"

"Can it!" Rillaboom retorted with a stern look on her face, "I'm standing, aren't I?" the woman shaking her head and protesting, "You're barely standing right now! Seriously, if you move too quickly, you'll just make things worse!"

The gorilla took a deep breath and hobbled over to the nurse. She then looked her deep in the eyes and grunted, "Very well! Take me to Commonwealth Stadium right now!" the woman staring blankly while she added, "My friend needs me!"

She then pointed at the screen with tears in her eyes, sniffing, "This is the biggest match of his life! If I'm not there to support him, he'll most likely suffer far worse than I did!"

Deep down, the nurse felt like this was a bad idea. After all, this was for a tournament match, not a fight between good and evil. And yet deep down, she felt moved by Rillaboom's passion. As such, she bit her lower lip and said, "Hold on. Stay right there."

She then exited the room and brought in a wheelchair, saying, "At the very least, let me take you there in this. I'll have someone drive you there via ambulance."

Rillaboom's eyes sparkled while a big smile formed on her face. Thus she rested a hand on the nurse's shoulder and said, "Thank you," before enquiring, "By the way, if Scorbunny's awake, could you bring her along too?"

Drizzile continued to evade Melmetal before noticing one thing. Even when the cyborg hid his head, there were still two parts of him he could not cover up, his shoulders. With that in mind, the chameleon took a deep breath and thought, 'It's a long shot, but I think I can take advantage of this. And I think I know just how to do it.'

With that in mind, he formed water around his hands and morphed it into his katana before Bailey spat, "DRIZZILE, ARE YOU INSANE!? THAT'S NOT GONNA WORK!" the others about to express agreement until Allie gasped, "Wait, I get it. How did I not realize it sooner?"

Wendy nodded and grunted, "He's figured out that move's weakness. He might still be able to win this after all."

Melmetal, however, simply laughed, "Go ahead! Stab me, see where that gets you!" Drizzile waiting for him to close in before leaping high into the air. He then spread his arms out sideways before swinging them inward and shouting, "AQUATIC ASSASSINATION!"

The entire area went silent when his blades struck Melmetal's shoulders. Not only were they not absorbed, but they even managed to cut open the material. And to top it off, a mixture of oil and blood started to leak out while even Shaymin and Tori were at a loss for words.

Melmetal's eye widened as he let out a loud cry of pain. He slowly reverted back to his normal size and shape while Morgrem grinned and exclaimed, "He did it! He actually did it!" grabbing Rolycoly's shoulders and shaking him back and forth.

Drizzile did not yet remove his blades, though. He had a golden opportunity, and he fully intended to use it. Thus he leaned backward and lifted Melmetal up over his head, shouting, "AQUATIC KATANA SUPLEX!" ramming his skull hard into the canvas while the entire stadium erupted with cheers.

Drizzile took a deep breath, removed his blades and smiled while he explained, "I figured as much. While that liquid metal of yours may be able to absorb sharp objects, there are still parts of you that are completely solid. It only stands to reason I'd be able to use blades on those. I have to admit, I didn't think my katana would be strong enough to actually cut your shoulders open like that, but I guess they're not as strong as they look."

"Oh man, that was beautiful!" Incineroar exclaimed, Wurmple nodding and replying, "Yes, absolutely brilliant. I can't believe I didn't think of that."

Corviknight, all the while, folded his arms and thought, 'Excellent work, Drizzile. It would seem Runerigus was right about you. You really did have the most potential out of Edmonton's heroes.'

Melmetal breathed heavily, a look of pure anger in his eye while he glared at Drizzile. He no longer saw any need to keep up his good sport act. All that mattered to him was that he get the upper hand back and keep it.

With that in mind, he sent both of his fists toward the chameleon only for him to cross his blades and block the incoming strikes. The nuts on Melmetal's hands started to spin while he spat, "HARD BUZZ SAW!" the Russian crowd concerned when this did not help him in the slightest. Just like when Drizzile struck his shoulders, blood spewed out of him.

"If he doesn't stop his assault, he might just pass out," Wendy uttered, "I knew Drizzile was tough, but not this tough."

Allie nodded and replied, "Yeah, he's amazing. He's found a way around Melmetal's best tactics. There's no way he'll lose."

Melmetal's eye shook back and forth when he heard this, thus he could not help but think, 'What am I doing? Why am I still holding back!? This is the final match! Once it's over, I'll have no reason to hide anything from the world! I may as well use the one skill no one has seen yet!'

With that in mind, he took a deep breath and formed his fingers before he wrapped them around the blades. But this was only phase one of his strategy. Once again, every member of the audience, including the Russians, were shocked when spikes suddenly formed around the nuts on his hands, Melmetal exclaiming, "LIQUID METAL PUNCTURE!"

Drizzile's eyes widened when the spikes spun around and slashed open his blades. This caused the water to fall against the mat before Melmetal stretched his arms forward once more and cut open the sides of the chameleon's head. As such, he backed up and breathed heavily, shocked to see the spikes still there.

"Surprised?" Melmetal enquired with an implied smirk, "This is a tactic I've been saving for an opponent like you. As you've seen, I can reshape my liquid metal into spikes. However, reshaping my solid metal is a whole other thing. It requires assistance from my liquid metal. Basically, I pounded the liquid under my knuckles into them to form spikes. It does deal slight pain, hence why I don't use this ability often, but as you've seen, it makes my knuckles much more deadly."

The crowd stared in shock, Caterpie bolting upright in his seat and barking, "Hey, I don't think I need to remind you that killing your opponent is against the rules!" the cyborg sighing, "Relax, I know that. It's why I aimed away from any vital spots."

Drizzile narrowed his eyelids and grunted, "Alright, I'm sure I can work around this," forming his daggers and dashing to the right. He then leapt toward Melmetal's shoulder with his arms raised only for the cyborg to shout, "LIQUID METAL PUNCTURE!" and form spikes around the massive nut on his shoulder.

Of course, he did this just in time to strike Drizzile in the chin, causing blood to fly out of it while the chameleon flew backwards. And just for good measure, he did the exact same thing for the golden nut around his neck, Allie uttering, "Oh my god. He just turned his weakness into his ultimate weapon."

Morgrem laughed nervously and uttered, "Drizzile can still work around this. After all, it's not like Melmetal's torso is always protected."

But of course, there was no way the cyborg would not do his best to prevent Drizzile from fighting back now. As such, he once again inflated his body and formed his protrusions, quipping, "You see this, Drizzile!? You can't hurt me anymore! No matter what, none of your moves will work on me!"

Most of the crowd watched in horror when he exclaimed, "JACK MARBLE!" rolling toward the chameleon who once again formed his katanas. But sure enough, when he leapt up and aimed them toward Melmetal's shoulders, the new spikes sliced them open and allowed the cyborg to ram into him.

Light bruises formed on Drizzile while he coughed up blood and flew backward, Melmetal returning to his normal state and saying, "I could easily finish you off with this move, but this isn't what I intend to win the match with. Oh no, an opponent as amazing and persistent with you deserves only the best finisher I have!"

"Is it just me, or is he acting worse than Unown right now?" Bailey uttered, the others turning toward her before Geneva replied, "Now that you mention it, yeah, he's much more malicious. I know he said he wouldn't kill Drizzile, but it almost sounds like he plans to."

Drizzile could sense it too, but after that last hit, he felt far too weak to do anything about it. As such, Melmetal sent both hands forward and formed his fingers. He then clutched onto the right side of Drizzile's head with one, planting the spikes on his knuckles into his cheek. The other hand he used to latch onto the chameleon's left side, those spikes lodged into that exact spot.

He then leapt as high into the air as he could and leaned sideways, starting up his nuts again and exclaiming, "HARD BUZZ SAW SLAM!" slashing Drizzile's cheek and side with his spikes and planting his shoulder hard into the canvas.

The crowd stared in horror when Drizzile coughed up one last bit of blood, Melmetal releasing his hold and allowing him to pass out. Shaymin stared at this and said, "It would seem Melmetal's new technique has truly turned the tides. I doubt Drizzile will get up from that," Tori starting the ten count while Allie stared with her eyes and mouth wide open, screaming, "NO, DRIZZILE!"

As Drizzile lay there, everyone shouted words of encouragement, Incineroar barking, "Hey, come on, man! Get up!" Ben and Rapidight shouting, "You're so close!"

Corviknight frowned and grunted, "Rise, sir Drizzile, and claim the championship that you so rightfully deserve!" Eevee and her friends also cheering for him seeing as he was Vaporeon's friend.

Geneva and Rolycoly chanted Drizzile's name while holding up their supportive sign and Bailey soon joined in shortly after. Vaporeon bit her lower lip and squeaked, "Drizzile, it's not over yet! You can still move, right!?"

However, it seemed as if this was truly over when Tori reached nine seconds. But just as she was about to count to ten, she stopped when she heard a deep feminine voice shout, "DON'T WORRY, DRIZZILE, WE'RE HERE FOR YOU!"

Everyone turned toward the entrance to the area in stunned silence, Melmetal breathing heavily while he uttered, "No," shaking his head, "There is no way in Hell you guys are here right now!"

Sure enough, the nurse had arrived just in time with Rillaboom and Scorbunny there. Since both had wanted to be there as fast as possible, they had requested that they only use one wheelchair and have Scorbunny seated on Rillaboom's lap. After all, she was short and light enough for that to work.

Vaporeon stared at them while her jaw dropped and twitched. But shortly after, a light smile formed as she let down tears and sniffed, "You guys are okay," Allie nodding and squealing, "They came at just the right time, too!"

At that moment, Drizzile's arm started to twitch while Scorbunny stated, "Come on, Drizzile! I know you can still win this! I don't know what kind of move you just took in! It looks brutal, but you can handle it, right!?"

Rillaboom nodded and added, "Don't you even think about giving up! You've made it this far! Now rise and fight to the bitter end! I know you still have plenty of strength left in you! If you were really finished, we'd give you props for doing your best, but I can tell you're not!"

Melmetal narrowed his eye before turning toward Tori and barking, "Hey, what the fuck are you doing, lady!? Finish the ten count!" Tori gasping, "Oh, uh, right!" many members of the crowd, including the Russians, staring awkwardly at Melmetal. Did he really just say what they thought he did?

But just as Tori was ready to count to ten, Drizzile bolted upright and panted heavily with his eyes and mouth wide open. Melmetal twitched all over while Shaymin stated, "And with a good pep talk from his BFFs, Drizzile is back up and raring to go!"

The crowd cheered while Rillaboom and Scorbunny breathed a sigh of relief. The nurse smiled wide and let down the light tear, sniffing, "Wow, that was so sweet," Vaporeon and Allie equally relieved.

Morgrem grinned and squealed, "Wow! What incredible timing!" Rolycoly sighing, "I'll say. I know it wasn't life or death, but I still just about had a heart attack there."

Inteleon breathed a sigh of relief and thought, 'What amazing friends. Reminds me of the good old days,' looking at a photo of her standing with two other heroes along with her husband, though they were not yet married at the time it was taken.

"NO!" Melmetal cried while his eye turned beet red and released steam, "I cannot accept this! He was down for more than ten seconds! That means he lost, plain and simple!"

Everyone stared silently at the cyborg while Tori sighed, "I hate to say it, but while there is logic to your words, I delayed the ten count. Unless I count to ten, it doesn't count as a loss," Drizzile breathing a sigh of relief only for Melmetal to retort, "So what!? You think you're gonna win now just because you got lucky!?"

"Hey, calm down!" one member of the Russian crowd cried out, "I'm a little annoyed too, but even if you lose, you're still a winner to us!"

At that moment, Melmetal's eye became a darker shade of red before he slowly turned toward his own fanbase and retorted, "Shut up!" the Russians gasping, "I have had to keep up this nice act for so long, but in reality, I don't give a shit about any of you!"

All went silent while he continued, "My goal in this whole tournament was to become champion so the world would fear and respect my family! My father, Meltan, was picked on and abused all his life! And when he tried to stand up for himself, he was thrown in jail! Sure, he was released, but only because the government didn't consider him a legitimate threat! And even then, they put a tracking collar on him so he couldn't even attempt to exact his revenge!"

Everyone stared before Drizzile uttered, "Does that mean you're actually a villain?" the cyborg retorting, "WHAT DO YOU THINK!?" all going silent as he gasped and covered the lower portion of his face.

Rillaboom stared in stunned silence and uttered, "Oh my god, I completely forgot, before I passed out, I heard him talking about some kind of plan that required us losing to him. That must be what he was talking about," Scorbunny staring at her and uttering, "I would have been nice to know sooner."

Shaymin, meanwhile, frowned and grunted, "You know, Melmetal, you may not have killed Drizzile with any of those abilities, but being a villain in a tournament for heroes is the biggest rule violation of all! If you don't leave that ring right now, you will be arrested!"

"Wait, shouldn't you just arrest him, anyway?" Scorbunny uttered, many others agreeing as Shaymin sighed, "I know, but it's one of those rare rules we can't rewrite. It's mainly to avoid any unnecessary casualties."

Melmetal shook and chuckled wickedly. He then broke out into hysterics and shouted, "Fine, I'll leave! Whatever! This is just a dumb competition anyway! One day, I'll return and beat all six of you at the same time! Then I'll take down every other hero in this retched world!"

"Hold it!" Drizzile snapped, everyone turning to face him while he breathed heavily. Scorbunny blinked and uttered, "Drizzile, what are you doing? You just won," Rillaboom sighing, "Can you really call that a win, though?"

The chameleon nodded and sighed, "Exactly. The old me would have gladly accepted a free victory. Anything to get out of all this pain and torment would have sounded like the best thing in the world. But not anymore. Evil or not, I came to win and earn the championship belt. As long as we can both still fight, this isn't over."

The crowd stared while Vaporeon released tears, Eevee squealing, "Wow! This is just like when Scorchicken fought Bewear in the semi-finals!" Popplio nodding and adding, "Oui, and Machop dealt with something similar when she fought Slurpuff in the finals during her time."

Melmetal chuckled, "Yes, I've heard about those instances, how both heroes foolishly chose to keep fighting because the rules allow a fighter to get away with any violation as long as the opponent is okay with it. Still, whereas those two came out on top, I can guarantee you won't. After all, I now have a way to overcome all your best tactics. You really should have just taken the victory when you had the chance."

"Yeah right!" Rillaboom retorted, "There's no way Drizzile will lose!" Scorbunny barking, "Exactly! Come on, Drizzile, prove him wrong!" the chameleon taking a deep breath and thinking, 'Well, he's not wrong. It's gonna be hard to bring harm to him with those spikes. But even so, there is one move I haven't tried. Perhaps this can work. I just have to make sure it's enough to knock him out for good.'

With that, Melmetal inflated his body once more and formed his protrusions. He then rolled toward Drizzile and shouted, "JACK MARBLE!" everyone cheering for Drizzile to come out on top, including the Russians.

As such, the chameleon took a deep breath and leapt backward. He then placed his feet firmly against the rope and covered his hands in water, Inteleon gasping, "Is he about to try what I think he is!?" grabbing onto the sides of the TV and barking, "No, son, you're not ready to use that yet!" once again forgetting that he could not hear her.

However, it seemed as if Drizzile had a solution to this problem when he lathered his entire body in water. He then morphed it into a bullet and launched himself forward with his skull pointed outward, shouting, "SNIPE SHOT!"

Everyone stared in shock when he flew straight into the incoming metal ball. And while the protrusions dealt some damage to him at first, he was somehow able to force the ones that struck him inward before he rammed his skull right into Melmetal. As such, the cyborg's eye went wide with shock as he thought, 'How is this so strong?' his body sinking inward.

It then slowly deflated back to its original size while he and Drizzile flew toward the ropes, Melmetal pressed right up against them. The material stretched back while blood escaped from the cyborg's head. And all the while, the announcers and crowd watched in anticipation.

After a few more seconds, the ropes split open, thus Drizzile and Melmetal flew out of the ring until the cyborg's back hit the wall beneath the bleachers hard. A big crack formed in that exact spot while the people seated there looked down in stunned silence.

Drizzile finally leapt away from Melmetal and allowed him to collapse while he breathed heavily, a big grin on Allie's face as she squealed, "OH MY GOD, HE DID IT!" the area erupting with cheers and applause for the chameleon.

Inteleon stared at the screen, still up close and clinging to the sides of the TV. She breathed heavily with her eyes and mouth wide open and uttered, "He actually used it and it worked."

A light tear fell from her eye while a light smile formed. She could not have been more proud of her son right now. But even so, it was still too early to celebrate. Since both fighters were out of the ring, Tori started up a twenty count while Shaymin exclaimed, "Just as all seemed lost, Drizzile has managed to surprise us all with his mother's strongest move! But even if Melmetal is unconscious, the lizard will have to return to the ring, otherwise this will count as a draw!"

Drizzile blinked and gasped, "Right!" turning around only to feel something grab his tail. Everyone stared in stunned silence while Melmetal panted heavily, his eye half closed and his fingers having formed. He even sharpened them in order to pierce the chameleon's skin and grunted, "You're not going anywhere. I'm winning this match, and when I do, this whole world will soon belong to me."

"Come on, Drizzile, strike him now!" Scorbunny snapped, Morgrem adding, "Don't let him get away!"

However, Drizzile had a feeling he would not need to do that, thus he simply glared at the cyborg who uttered, "No, I can't," removing his grip and sighing, "I'm far too weak right now."

With that in mind, the chameleon breathed a sigh of relief and walked toward the ring while Tori counted to twelve, Melmetal uttering, "Wait, I need to know one thing. How can you and your friends possibly fight for these humans? I know for a fact that you were all once in the same boat as me and my family. Surely you must still have some resentment towards mankind."

Drizzile took a deep breath, stopped briefly and replied, "All of those hardships were partly our fault. On top of that, most of the humans we've met are nowhere near as bad as the ones who motivated us to turn to the dark side. And you should know this. After all, your fans were really nice to you before they found out you were evil."

All the while, Allie noticed Tori count to eighteen as she tensed up, but just as she was about to tell Drizzile to hurry up, he immediately leapt into the ring just in time for Tori to reach twenty seconds. Thus she rang the bell and exclaimed, "And after a very long and brutal match, Drizzile is our new world champion!"

The crowd broke out into heavy cheers and applause, Morgrem and Rolycoly embracing one-another and releasing tears with big grins on their faces. Incineroar and his friends laughed triumphantly while Sandaconda and Corviknight nodded their heads in approval. Even Eevee and her friends were beyond ecstatic, the brown fox reminded even more of all the times she had pulled off miracles like this.

With that, Allie rose up from her seat and ran through the bleachers. She then sprinted down the stairs all the way to the ring and climbed into it. Sure enough, once she was close enough, she held Drizzile in a tight embrace, both of them twirling while sharing a kiss.

The audience beamed bright while a tear fell from Shaymin's eye. Tori stared at her while she sniffed, "Wow, what a perfect way to end this tournament," the woman chuckling, "Yeah, it really is."

Brian and Wendy both cheered and whistled at the two while Rillaboom and Scorbunny both stared at this, wondering when Drizzile and Allie became official. And finally, Melmetal fell unconscious before Hero Planet security raced into the area and handcuffed him. Luckily, though, Drizzile's words ultimately stuck with him. Perhaps the chameleon was right.

At that moment, Drizzile winced and uttered, "This is nice and all, Allie, but can you please let go? My wounds are starting to open up," thus she gasped, "Oh, right!" releasing him and chuckling nervously.

The nurse then wheeled Rillaboom and Scorbunny closer to the ring so the others could approach them more easily. While both would have to return to the hospital soon, they were glad to have been of help. After all, if they had not arrived when they did, Drizzile would have lost for sure.

But just as they were ready to leave, Shaymin squeaked, "Hold on!" Drizzile turning to face her before she ran over to him and breathed heavily, saying, "You still have to claim the grand prize."

The chameleon's eyes and mouth widened with shock when she pulled out a golden belt, handing it over to him. Drizzile was just barely able to hold it, thus Brian took it from him and said, "We'll hold onto that until we get you to your place."

Drizzile smiled and nodded his head, replying, "Thank you all so much. I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for all of you."

And with that, everything had truly turned out for the best. One could only imagine what the future had in store, but now was certainly a time to celebrate.


	43. Chapter 43

Note: If you're wondering why Volcanion's ring is broken in the flashback, this is explained in Earth's Protectors II.

It had been five months since the Hero Olympics ended, and things had been surprisingly peaceful during this time. Of course, the heroes of Edmonton along with their human friends took full advantage of this. Drizzile and Allie went out on plenty of dates while Scorbunny and Rillaboom did all they could to make up for the week they had spent out of commission.

Although since it was currently December, the main thing on everyone's mind was that Christmas was right around the corner. Everyone had already bought their presents, Drizzile getting a cool bracelet for Allie. All of them had agreed to get it done in November before the stores were jam-packed.

Tonight, however, was a pretty big deal as all six heroes had been invited to join Allie and her family for a big dinner. As if that was not exciting enough, they would get to meet the girl's grandparents tonight. While they all headed to her place dressed in winter coats, Drizzile tensed up and bit his lower lip with sweat running down his face.

"Hey, relax," Vaporeon said with a hand on his shoulder, "You'll be fine," the chameleon uttering, "But what if I embarrass myself? What if they don't approve of their granddaughter dating a reptile?"

"Oh, come on," Scorbunny giggled, "Humans and heroes have been a thing for ages. This sort of thing is normal. After all, your dad was human, right?" the chameleon blinking and replying, "Okay, you have a point there."

Morgrem chuckled, "Just be your awesome self. Seriously, you saved the world from a very dangerous threat not too long ago. Allie's grandparents would have to be insane not to support your relationship after all that."

Rolycoly nodded and said, "I still can't believe it. I'm being invited to a fancy dinner. Granted, I've eaten out with you guys a lot, but never at someone else's house."

"Yeah, and you get to have dinner with Geneva tomorrow, you lucky dog," Morgrem replied with a smirk, "I have to admit, I'm actually a little jealous of how close you two are."

"Yeah, it's strange," Rolycoly chuckled, "I'm surprised she only invited me. It makes me feel special," before turning to the goblin and uttering, "Not that I don't love hanging out with you, Morgrem."

Morgrem chuckled while the others smiled. They could not believe just how supportive Morgrem was. After all, Rolycoly was her best friend, but ever since he met Geneva, he had spent far more time with her than the goblin.

The group soon arrived at Allie's house, Vaporeon nodding at Drizzile and directing her hands toward the doorbell. After all, she felt that if anyone should ring it, it should be him. Thus he smiled and approached it before placing his hand up against it briefly.

It was not long before Wendy answered while dressed in her nicest green sweater. A big smile formed on her face as she said, "Well, well, well, now our little get together is complete. Come on inside right now. Mom and dad have been dying to meet you."

And so all six entered. But while it was easy for most of them to wipe their feet on the carpet before hanging up their coats, Rolycoly tensed up and thought, 'Okay, come on, man. You can do this without making a mess this time.'

As such, he slowly shifted his wheel against the carpet, breathing a sigh of relief when none of it flew onto the hardwood floor in front of it. And with that, everyone was soon gathered in a fairly big living room with a tree set up in the corner closest to the dividing line between the room and the entrance.

Two elderly people noticed the guests and smiled. The man introduced himself as Jasper and the woman Janette. Sure enough, it seemed Drizzile's fears were unfounded when both felt more than happy to meet him. After all, the only thing they needed to know about him was that he once helped save their granddaughter's life.

However, after giving Vaporeon, Rillaboom and Scorbunny a nice greeting as well, Janette glared at Morgrem and grunted, "Oh yes, I know you. You're the one who kidnapped our granddaughter," glaring into the goblin's eyes while she shuddered and held up her hands defensively.

Jasper let out a sigh and patted the elderly woman on the shoulder, saying, "There, there, Janette, you remember what Allie told us. All of these heroes are former villains. You remember how common that was back in the day, right?"

Janette bit her lip firmly and tensed up only for Allie to walk over to her, rub her shoulders and sigh, "Grandma, it's Christmas," the elderly woman sighing, "Well, if you've been spending time with her this whole time and you're still safe, I guess it's alright."

Rolycoly blinked and uttered, "Um, what about me?" both grandparents staring blankly at him while he thought, 'Oh, thank god. They have no idea who I am.'

Either way, everyone took a seat while an electric fireplace was lit. Wendy offered everyone rum and eggnog, Drizzile chuckling nervously and uttering, "I'll just have the eggnog."

"Oh, come on," Allie replied with a devious grin, "It's really good with rum. You gotta try it," only for the chameleon to bite his lower lip. Scorbunny noticed this and shook her head while making a neck slitting motion with her finger, Rillaboom giving Allie a serious look.

"Oh, never mind," the girl uttered with a light nervous chuckle, "It's not really all that good, anyway," a look of embarrassment on her face. She could not believe that in the five months she had dated Drizzile, she did not even know about his aversion to alcohol.

Thankfully, the next hour or so went by fine. Although Janette seemed to go a bit overboard with the rum herself. When she requested a third glass, Jasper rested a hand on her shoulder and shook his head with a sigh. Thus she folded her arms and pouted, glaring daggers at Morgrem again.

Wendy saw this and smiled, asking, "What say we all sing Christmas carols?" Brian nodding and replying, "What a great idea! What could be more festive?" a nervous look on his face.

Morgrem had a wide grin on her face as she squealed, "That sounds like fun! Earlier today, I heard the catchiest song on the radio!" before singing, "Grandma got run over by a-"

She then noticed Janette narrow her eyelids as she chuckled, "Oh, uh, I mean Frosty the Snowman, yeah," chuckling nervously while Rolycoly looked at her and uttered, "Grandma got run over by a what? Is she okay?"

Allie snuggled up next to Drizzile after everyone was given sheet music to work with. Brian then brought out a guitar and set up a music stand in front of himself for his own sheets. And when he found the first song, he smiled and asked, "Everyone ready?"

And so, he started to play before everyone joined in. At first, Janette seemed to calm down a lot while she and Jasper sang together, Drizzile and Allie both in surprisingly good harmony. But after a while, many noticed that Morgrem was singing louder than everyone else, so much so that it threw Janette off and made her lose her place halfway through.

As such, she frowned and grunted, "Brian, stop," the man doing just that before staring at her and enquiring, "Is something wrong?"

"No," Janette grumbled before rising to her feet, "I just need to go to the bathroom for a few minutes, maybe an hour. You can continue without me once I'm gone."

Everyone watched her exit the room with concern before Allie bit her lower lip. She understood entirely what the elderly woman felt. After all, it had taken her a while to trust Morgrem and Rolycoly as well. But even so, a part of her wanted to go and have a word with her.

Brian, however, grinned nervously and said, "Well, let's get back to carols," only for Wendy to sigh, "Actually, honey, I don't really feel like singing anymore. I'm gonna go comfort my mother."

But just as she was about to get up, Morgrem held out her hand and said, "No, you don't have to trouble yourself," the others turning to face her in confusion, "Allow me."

And so, once the goblin got up and exited the area, Scorbunny beamed bright and said, "I know something fun we can do until they get back," the others staring awkwardly at her.

Of course Janette had not really gone to the bathroom. Instead, she entered Wendy and Brian's bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed with her arms folded. She then looked over at a picture of her family and sighed, thinking, 'What is wrong with me? Jasper's right. This sort of thing happened all the time.'

At that moment, she remembered a time in her teen years when she was attacked by a red dinosaur with a sharp hunch on his back and two broken tubes that used to connect to form a ring named Volcanion. He stood before her and breathed heavily, eyeing a shopping bag she had in her hands and went for it, assuming there might be food in there.

However, at that exact moment, a dark-green cat named Sneasel raced into the area and scratched his cheek. Shortly after that, a large golem named Gigalith raced toward Volcanion, turned a horn made of gemstone on his forehead into a blade and rammed it into the dinosaur's forehead.

Unfortunately, despite having been weakened a long time ago, it seemed as if Volcanion still had fight left him him. As such, he was able to overpower both and slam them hard into the canvas with a move he called Steam Drop. And while this no longer had the same power is used to, it was still enough to leave them too weak to fight back.

But just as he headed toward Janette, she could see a look of desperation in his eyes. Thus she bit her lower lip and spat, "Wait!"

The dinosaur stared at her as she sighed, "You just want what's in my bag, right? Well, go on and take it if it'll make you happy."

Volcanion smirked and replied, "Thank you. If only all of my victims were this cooperative," only for the girl to reveal that all she had were a few books. His eyes went wide and his eye twitched, thus he gritted his teeth and growled, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PLAYING AT!? ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME OR SOMETHING!?"

He then snatched the bag and looked through it, grunting, "Where are your groceries!?" the girl uttering, "Um, why did you think I had groceries in here? That's not even a grocery bag," Volcanion unable to find the correct response.

"Dammit!" he cursed, tossing the bag in front of her feet, "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" ramming his fists into the pavement, "It didn't have to be this way! I was a goddamn general before that bitch, Machop, ruined my life!"

Janette stared in shock as she uttered, "Wait, did you once work for Xerneas and Yveltal?" the dinosaur nodding and grunting, "That's right. The others were arrested, but I had enough strength to escape. Even after my water blasters were destroyed, I'm still amazing. I mean, just look at how I totally wasted your city's heroes!" pointing at Sneasel and Gigalith, the cat hissing, "You know we can still hear you, right?"

Janette stared at the dinosaur and noticed tears in his eyes. Thus she sighed, "If you're so awesome, then why do you have to steal food from strangers?" Volcanion grunting, "Hey, can it! I could bust your head in right now!"

"Well, why don't you!?" the girl retorted with her arms folded, "I'm standing right here with no one to protect me!" Sneasel grunting, "We can still fight! We just need a few seconds to regain our strength!" Gigalith already trying his hardest to push himself back up.

Volcanion frowned and grunted, "I'll get you, but first, I'll knock these two out for good," but when he rose his fists, Janette sighed, "Who are you trying to fool?"

The dinosaur turned to face her as she sighed, "I think I know what's going on. You've lost your position of power and now you feel like you have nothing left. But it doesn't have to be this way. It's like you said. Even though you're not as strong as you were when you fought Machop, you're still strong enough to defeat two powerful heroes at once."

"So what's your point?" Volcanion retorted only for Sneasel to gasp, "You know, she has a point," a grin on her face, "We could use a guy like you on our team."

The dinosaur was about to chew her out for even thinking this, but something about the way she and Gigalith were willing to give him such a chance moved him. Granted, a part of that was because they themselves used to be in the same boat, but even so, this seemed like a good idea. As such, he frowned and grunted, "Damn straight you guys could use my help! Seriously, that was pathetic! I'll make sure you two are the ultimate fighting machines!"

Sneasel grinned at Gigalith who implied a smile with his eyes. Janette nodded as Volcanion turned to her and laughed lightly, rubbing the back of his head.

Back in present time, the elderly woman took a deep breath when Morgrem entered the area and said, "Um, hi," Janette turning to face her while she continued, "Look, I don't blame you for hating me. My life at the time wasn't very good and I was just following orders, but that's no excuse for what I did. I'm not gonna leave because then the others will be upset, but I'll make sure to avoid making any sort of contact with you for the rest of the evening."

"Wait," Janette replied as she held out her hand, "You have nothing to apologize for. Look, I'm sure you had your reasons for using my granddaughter as a hostage, but at least you did learn your lesson. I really shouldn't judge you off of how you used to be. That's not fair to you."

Morgrem stared silently, but before she could question any of this, the elderly woman stood up and gave her a hug, saying, "Thank you for being friends with Allie. She's been alone for so long because of her height, yet you and the others have helped so much with that."

Morgrem smiled softly and patted Janette on the back. She felt no need to say anything at this point. Needless to say, it seemed like the evening had been saved.

When the two returned, they were surprised to see the others balancing paper plates on their heads while drawing on them with felt markers. Jasper, meanwhile, described what they were to draw when they all noticed Janette and Morgrem right there. Thus they held their plates in place before the goblin uttered, "The hell are you all doing?"

Soon enough, both joined in with the game Scorbunny had suggested. As it so happened, this was something she and her family used to do all the time. And while it seemed strange at first, everyone had fun.

After that, they resumed singing Christmas carols and ultimately had a great time. Needless to say, Janette was beyond grateful to have met Allie's friends tonight. Things may have started off rocky, but they turned out great in the end.

Soon, it was time for everyone to head home, Vaporeon and the others bowing their heads. The fox shook Brian and Wendy's hands, saying, "Thanks so much for having us," Rillaboom adding, "Yeah. This was really nice. Maybe once I move back home, I could spend the holidays like this."

She then sighed before Scorbunny patted her on the shoulder and gave her a sweet smile. After all, she was fully aware of the fact that up until now, Rillaboom had never been able to celebrate the holidays, what with her family having been poor for so long.

Drizzile and Allie embraced one-another and shared a quick kiss before they wished each other a goodnight and headed off. While they walked along, they all smiled and hoped for something similar next year. After all, this had been one of the nicest nights they had ever experienced.

While they were headed home, Vaporeon looked up and noticed a flash of light streak across the sky. She blinked and said, "Oh, wow, a falling star," Morgrem and Rolycoly grinning at each other and exclaiming, "Time to make a wish!"

As such, both closed their eyes and cupped their hands together, Scorbunny doing the same while Drizzile and Rillaboom chuckled at them. They then decided to do the same as well since there was no harm in it. And once they were finished making their own mental wishes, they all resumed their trip home in high spirits.

Unfortunately for them, that was not a shooting star that they saw. As it so happened, there were three figures, two wolves and a dragon, headed for Earth, and somehow, neither of them needed to ride in a space shuttle to get there.

Both wolves had blue fur but different features to distinguish them from one-another. One of them, a female to be exact, had a golden mask over her eyes that resembled a crown with a pink vein-like mark down the middle along with matching armour over her ears. She had long pink braids that looked more like large ribbons and a matching tail that looked like a big rake. The fur coming from her shoulders arched backward and resembled a pair of blue and golden wings while two fin-like formations could be seen on her rear end. Finally, attached to her right braid was what appeared to be a long yellow sword with a blue gem on the bottom of the handle and pink marks that also looked like veins.

The other's blue fur served more as a cape and a ponytail as most of the fur on his torso was red. His mask covered most of his face with a saw-shaped formation over his snout. Attached to his chin and reaching all the way down to his midsection was red and golden fur that resembled a shield, two wing-like portions on his shoulders. His hands had blue fur that resembled gauntlets while his arms and legs were white.

The dragon, meanwhile, looked more like the skeleton of one as he was made entirely out of blue and black bones with a strawberry red energy keeping them together. He had four spikes sticking out the back of his head, toes and fingers that looked more like blades and two long wings that looked like locks of hair. If one were to look at his face, they would just barely be able to see an actual dragon skull underneath the energy that held his spikes in place.

Currently, all three were flying through the stratosphere. A red energy surrounded the wolves to keep them from suffocating while the female enquired, "Sir, where are we landing? You still haven't told us."

The dragon nodded and replied, "Worry not. We're almost there. If what I have sensed is correct, this place will have the best candidates for our little test."

The male wolf took a deep breath and replied, "I hope they are worthy. This is a rather nice looking planet and it would be a real shame if they failed."

Just who were these creatures and what exactly did they want? Whatever it was, it did not seem good, not in the slightest.


	44. Chapter 44

After a very nice night, everyone was sound asleep in bed. But unbeknownst to them, their relaxation could only last so long. Right now, three dangerous looking beings were headed to Earth as they closed in on Edmonton specifically. Though why this area stood out to them was anyone's guess.

Either way, after a couple of hours, they crash-landed outside city limits, but despite the fact that they were not in a space shuttle, neither one seemed to have taken in any damage from this. As such, the female wolf looked at her arms while the male examined his shield-like mane.

The dragon folded his arms and said, "There's no need to examine yourselves. My power not only allows us to breathe in space. It also makes for a much smoother landing than if we came by spacecraft."

"Most impressive," the female replied with a nod, "And now that we are here in Edmonton, we can challenge the three who have given off such a powerful signal. I hope that they are as worthy as you say they are."

The dragon nodded and replied, "Worry not. I have no doubt in my mind that this trio will be perfect for what we have planned. After all, they not only have an interesting history but they have also earned themselves an amazing reputation."

The male wolf nodded and asked, "Should we issue our challenge now?" only for the dragon to state, "No. They are likely sleeping right now and I wish to face them at full strength."

With that in mind, all three strangers decided to wait outside in the cold. The male wolf sat cross-legged with his arms folded while the female rested against a nearby tree. The dragon, however, remained upright. While it was cold outside, all three of them had the perfect bodies for such weather.

Once morning came, Vaporeon awoke with a yawn and headed to the kitchen to start on breakfast. Sure enough, Scorbunny was already up and at it when she spotted the fox. She then approached her and asked, "Hey, Vaporeon. Want some help?"

Vaporeon nodded with a light smile and said, "Of course," bringing out some flour and adding, "I feel like pancakes today."

"Sweet!" Scorbunny squealed as she brought out the eggs and milk from the fridge. As it so happened, Rillaboom told Vaporeon how the rabbit had made breakfast for them during her time in the hospital and how good the overall quality was. As such, the two of them made it a habit to always cook together.

Just as they were about to start, though, Drizzile burst into the kitchen and gasped, "Guys, have you seen the morning news!?" holding up his cell phone and showing live footage of a big black hole that had formed in the sky. Surrounding it was what looked like reddish-orange fire as many people had exited their homes to gaze upon it.

Sure enough, the three strangers were both right underneath the hole as thankfully, it had not yet attempted to pull anything in. The dragon descended toward the ground after he spotted the nearby camera people, bringing the wolves with him and landing gently against the surface. Everyone stared in stunned silence while Vaporeon uttered, "Who are these guys?"

"Whoever they are, I have a feeling they're behind this," Scorbunny grunted only for the other two to stare awkwardly at her, Drizzile sighing, "You don't say."

Rillaboom soon entered the area and said, "Good morning," only to blink and utter, "What's everyone looking at?"

Morgrem spotted this when she looked out her window. As such, she immediately ran into Rolycoly's room and shook him by the shoulder, barking, "Hey, buddy, wake up! There's something going on!"

When the golem joined her by the window, his eyes and mouth were wide with terror. And it was not long until both suited up in their winter coats and headed outside, Morgrem riding toward the location of the hole atop Rolycoly.

After the dragon landed in front of the concerned citizens, he cleared his throat and stated, "Fear not, people of Earth. That black hole you see in the sky is my own creation, meaning that I can control it, and I do not wish to use it to consume your world."

The people were unsure whether to feel relieved or not. As such, one reporter approached him, held up her microphone and enquired, "If that's the case, why did you create the hole in the first place?"

"Well, perhaps I should be more specific," the dragon replied, "I do not wish to consume your world just yet. In fact, I'm not sure if I will. Right now, I'm waiting for three particular individuals to come here and help me make that decision."

Allie and her parents watched this from home while seated at the table for breakfast. The girl bit her lower lip as she had a good idea of which three he was talking about. As such, she turned to her parents who nodded before Brian rose up from his seat to get dressed into his daytime clothes.

Vaporeon narrowed her eyelids and growled, "Well, he's obviously referring to us," Rillaboom stroking her chin and replying, "Yeah, but why only three of us? And which three exactly?"

Scorbunny frowned and replied, "Well, whoever they're waiting for, it doesn't matter. We're all going anyway, right?" the other three nodding in agreement.

With that in mind, all four got dressed in their winter coats and headed out the door. After all, if they got sick on the way there, they would not be able to combat this threat as well as they would have liked to. Sure, by nature, Scorbunny could not get a cold, but it did not hurt to be careful.

Since Morgrem and Rolycoly were able to move faster, they were the first to arrive as the golem screeched to a halt. The goblin then leapt off of his back and pointed before she snapped, "Alright, two of the three you're looking for are here! Let me guess, you're here to challenge us, right!?"

The female wolf blinked and enquired, "Sir, are these two of the ones you're looking for?" the dragon folding his arms and remarking, "No," as both heroes could not help but feel insulted, though they were not entirely sure why.

Shortly after that, Allie and her folks arrived before the girl exited the car and ran toward Morgrem and Rolycoly. Both stared at her while she asked, "Hey, are the others here yet?" the golem replying, "No, though it seems this guy is waiting for three of them. I guess we're not good enough."

Thankfully, though, it did not take too long for Vaporeon and the others to arrive. All four breathed heavily before the male wolf turned and said, "Oh yes, surely those are the ones you wish to face, sir."

The dragon looked them over and replied, "As a matter of fact, they are," Rillaboom replying, "Well, what do you know? You were right on the money, Vaporeon."

"Well, of course," the fox replied with a shrug, "Who else would they want?" Morgrem and Rolycoly turning to her and barking, "YOU, TOO!?"

The dragon approached all four friends and said, "Oh yes, I can detect incredible power from the three of you. You are the ones with the stellar reputation here on Earth. And if I'm not mistaken, one of you is the world champion, correct?"

Drizzile nodded and replied, "Yeah, that would be me," the male wolf blinking and uttering, "Wow, I thought he'd be a lot bigger than that," the female shrugging and replying, "Guess it's true. You can't judge a book by its cover."

"Anyway," the dragon stated, "I apologize. Here I am prattling on about such matters when I have not yet introduced myself. I am Eternatus. And these here are my associates, Zacian and Zamazenta," pointing at the female and male in that order when he introduced them.

Zacian bowed her head and said, "It is a pleasure to meet three with such incredible potential," Zamazenta adding, "We have travelled all the way from Pluto to find you."

The people were truly amazed by all of this. Sure, super powered beings in their town were common. They had six living among them after all. But even so, something about these three in particular gave off a very impressive vibe, as if they were even more important than they already seemed.

"Can the pleasantries!" Rillaboom grunted, "We know you created that hole in the sky! What's it for!?" Morgrem and Rolycoly pouting and pressing their fingers together while Allie chuckled nervously and patted them on the back.

"Oh, yes," Eternatus replied, "This is the Eternal Vortex, also known as the Testing Void. See, I have been studying this planet for a long time, and it fascinates me. There is a lot of beauty on Earth, but out of all the planets in the solar system, it is also the most flawed."

"That is true," Zacian added, "From what he has told us, there are a lot of terrible people on this planet. In fact, many beings like us often try to enslave humanity for that very reason," Zamazenta adding, "Not to mention there has been a lot of war here in the past, or so I'm told."

"That is why I am strongly considering disposing of this planet," Eternatus stated as everyone gasped, "That is, unless the three fighters we have chosen can defeat us in a three-on-three match! You will join us within the void and face us!"

Vaporeon gritted her teeth and growled, "Fine! We accept your challenge! Now which three are you talking about!?" Eternatus sighing, "Right. I've beaten around the bush enough," thus he pointed his hands at Drizzile and Rillaboom before directing his tail toward Scorbunny.

Deep down, no one was really surprised by this, but it was still a tad difficult to process. Sure, Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Drizzile were very strong, but even they were unsure if they were truly worthy of such an important task. After all, there was far more at stake than usual this time.

But even so, Rillaboom took a deep breath and grunted, "Fine, then! If it's for the fate of the world, we'll do it!" Scorbunny adding, "Hell yeah! No one threatens our home planet and gets away with it!"

Drizzile took a deep breath and nodded as well, Allie uttering, "Wait, Mr. Eternatus, will we be able to see their match?"

"No," the dragon replied with a shake of his head, "The Eternal Vortex leads to a world that only I and anyone else of my choosing can access. I have heard about how many of you fighters often gain strength from the cheers of others. Therefor, I have chosen to even the playing field. In other words, these three will have to defeat us without anyone there to give them words of encouragement."

Zacian nodded and added, "Makes sense. After all, if these three really are the great warriors our leader thinks they are, they won't need such things," Zamazenta sighing, "I hope they at least provide a decent challenge."

Allie ran over to Drizzile and whimpered, "You'll be okay without me there, right?" the chameleon taking a deep breath and replying, "Yeah. I have the motivation and my friends helping me out. I'm sure we'll be okay."

The girl nodded and gave him a peck on the cheek before walking a small distance away from him. But just as Eternatus was about to activate his hole, Vaporeon snapped, "HOLD IT!"

Everyone stared silently at her while she grunted, "I'm not sure if you noticed, but there are six heroes stationed in Edmonton, not just three! I think at the very least, you shouldn't just decide to consume our world until you've gone through all of us!"

While this made sense to a lot of people, they were uncertain if Eternatus would agree to such terms. After all, he seemed dead set on the three he had chosen. Even the wolves figured Vaporeon's challenge was nothing more than a pointless gesture.

However, their eyes widened along with those of everyone else when the dragon folded his arms and replied, "Very well. I may not sense that great of potential within you, but your spirit is admirable. Therefor, you and your friends shall make for a good warmup."

Morgrem and Rolycoly blinked before he turned to them and added, "Yes, I mean you, too."

The golem tensed up slightly until Morgrem smirked and replied, "Well, then, you just made yourself a big mistake," cracking her knuckles while Zamazenta frowned and grunted, "Sir, with all due respect, this is a waste of time."

He then whispered into the side of Eternatus' head, "Besides, if we fight them first, those three will see our powers in action and will be able to devise a strategy based off of that. We agreed it would be best for all six of us to go into this fight blind."

"Yes, and we still can," Eternatus replied, Zamazenta retorting, "But how? You said the Eternal Vortex was only for the chosen fighters. Are you going against that, too?"

The dragon shook his head and replied, "Trust me on this one," snapping his fingers and forming three separate rings made entirely out of reddish-orange energy. Everyone stared as he gazed upon Vaporeon and stated, "Since I see the most potential in you, you shall be my opponent."

The fox smirked and replied, "You got a good eye," leaping into one ring before he flew into it.

The wolves also took to their own rings before Zacian said, "You intrigue me, little gremlin, so I pick you," looking at Morgrem who grinned and replied, "Fine by me," leaping into the ring and eyeing her sword. After defeating Grimmsnarl, she was certain she could overpower this blade as well.

Rolycoly then rolled over to Zamazenta's ring and pushed himself up into it, taking many deep breaths. But just as fear started to take over, Geneva just happened to arrive along with Bailey and gasp, "Thank god, we made it!"

The golem turned and smiled wide, exclaiming, "Geneva! You're here!" a grin crossing his face while he thought, 'Now I can't lose. After all, if I do, I'll look bad in front of my new friend.'

But just as he and the others were ready to begin, Eternatus snapped his fingers again before a stream of reddish-orange light rose up and covered each ring. It was much like a steel cage match only it felt more like each pair of fighters was stuck in a box.

Scorbunny's eyes widened as she spat, "Hey, that's not fair! Now we can't see what's going on!" Rillaboom sighing, "I think that might be the point."

Allie blinked and uttered, "But why, though?" before Drizzile stated, "Isn't it obvious? They came to test us. If we mentally prepare ourselves in advance, we'll have an unfair advantage."

Geneva and Bailey, meanwhile, were beyond disappointed. After all, they both wanted to cheer their friends on, but now they had no way of knowing if they needed it or not.

Either way, Vaporeon seemed fine with this as she smirked and said, "Such a shame that all these people won't get to see me wipe the canvas with you," Eternatus striking a fighting pose and saying nothing. He had already predicted this match would end soon.

Morgrem, meanwhile, sharpened her hair and smirked, saying, "Let me warn you in advance, Zacian. I'm tougher than I look," Zacian replying, "Well, good. I'd hate for this match to be a complete waste of my time."

In the third ring, Rolycoly took a deep breath and put on a serious look, grunting, "Just so you know, I beat an opponent made entirely out of steel," Zamazenta blinking and saying, "That's actually impressive. Maybe this will be worth it."

With that in mind, the male wolf held his ground while the golem took a deep breath and wheeled toward him. Much like when he fought Duraludon, he knew far better than to just rush into danger, thus he swerved to the side and sped behind him. He then pushed himself off the mat and spat, "MEDIEVAL SHARPENER!" planting his wheel into the back of Zamazenta's neck.

This actually seemed to deal quite a bit of pain when the male wolf's eyes widened with shock. But of course, Rolycoly knew better than to keep at it, thus he distanced himself from the wolf and sped sideways before he could retaliate. The golem then pushed himself into the air and crossed his arms together, ramming them into the side of Zamazenta's neck.

The wolf growled and swiped his arm sideways only for Rolycoly to distance himself just in time to avoid it. He then proceeded to come at Zamazenta again and deliver a karate chop to his ankle, thinking, 'Wow, this is surprisingly-'

His eyes widened when he noticed something off. While Zamazenta showed some signs of pain, it seemed as if Rolycoly's chop had only hurt him a tiny bit. This caused him to lower his guard just long enough for the wolf to take hold of his skull and lift him up with a cold look in his eyes.

"Just so you know, your hits have barely done a thing to me," he stated, "There's a reason my mane looks like a shield," before hurling Rolycoly into the ropes. After the golem bounced off, Zamazenta went down on all fours and charged toward him while his mane started to glow. Then when he was close enough, he barked, "BEHEMOTH BASH!" and rammed the lower part of the mane into the golem's face.

Rolycoly's eyes and mouth were wide with terror as he coughed up blood and flipped backward multiple times. And when he landed on his skull, a small crack formed on his forehead and he was out like a light, Zamazenta sighing, "Well, guess that was a complete waste of my time after all."

Meanwhile, Morgrem seemed to perform fairly well against Zacian. The female wolf tried her hardest to strike her with her claws only for the goblin to dodge each one. Then when she saw an opening, she leapt upward, clutched onto Zacian's shoulders and sunk her teeth into the area right beside her neck.

"FANG SUPLEX!" she exclaimed through clenched teeth before leaping into the air and leaning backward. But just as Zacian was about to make contact with the mat, Morgrem's eyes widened when her braids whipped forward and planted themselves firmly against it. Despite looking like ribbons, it seemed as if they were rather strong as they easily kept both from descending further.

Zacian bent the braids inward and used them to push herself as high above the ring as she could go, her feet touching the roof of the energy cage before she planted the claws on her toes into it. She then placed a firm grip against Morgrem and planted her claws into her back. This caused her to remove her teeth and cry out in pain while blood squirted from that very spot.

'I know claws are supposed to hurt, but it's as if she's somehow-' before she lowered her eyes and saw that Zacian's claws had, indeed, pierced right through her skin. It was just like Melmetal's makeshift claws. She was somehow able to make them longer while a pink energy surrounded them.

Zacian then lowered Morgrem enough for her skull to be closest to the canvas before she wrapped her braids about the goblin and herself like a cocoon. She finally let go of her grip on the roof and descended toward the mat, shouting, "FAIRY RIBBON COFFIN!"

Morgrem's skull hit the canvas hard as her eyes widened. Despite having only taken in two hits, she already coughed up blood before Zacian unwrapped her and allowed her to collapse. She then stood upright and sighed, "Zamazenta was right. This really wasn't worth the effort."

However, she froze when Morgrem slowly pushed herself up. She took many deep breaths and tried her hardest to ignore the holes covering her while she turned toward the wolf and panted, "I'll admit, I greatly underestimated you. But even so, there's a reason I'm a hero of Edmonton."

With that in mind, she leapt toward the ropes and bounced off with her hair at the ready and shouted, "GRIZZLY SCIMITAR!" Zacian noticing how sharp her hair was and thinking, 'I see. So it's a sword fight she wants. That I can oblige.'

As such, Zacian also leapt toward the ropes and bounced off before using her right braid to pick up her sword and place the handle into her mouth. A pink energy surrounded it before she grunted, "BEHEMOTH BLADE!" and swung it sideways when she was close enough.

Morgrem's eyes widened when, with no effort at all, the wolf managed to not only overpower her hair but also slash it open. Now it was completely short, but she had no time to be shocked by this as the wolf's sword had also put a huge gash in her upper back.

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head before she fell flat on her belly. Blood covered her body while Zacian returned her blade to her braid and sighed, "You're lucky Eternatus does not wish for us to kill you, because I could have made that much more fatal."

And during all of this, Vaporeon seemed to have it the worst. She raced toward Eternatus with the tip of her tail covered in ice and swung it toward him only for him to easily block it. And despite how skinny his arms were, the energy that filled them made them really strong as each time he countered the ice, he managed to shatter it, which even Furfrou and Melmetal had not quite been able to accomplish.

After he pulled this off for the tenth time, he lifted his arm and lowered it, striking Vaporeon's skull with the karate chop. And despite how simple the move was, she felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her, her eyes and mouth wide open.

When she saw Eternatus open his hand and reach for her skull, Vaporeon growled and dashed around him, forming the ice once again. And when she got behind him, she performed a handstand and sent the ice toward him, shouting, "TRAPEZE ICE WHIP!"

This time, she managed to strike him on the back of the head as he opened his mouth wide. However, he did not release a sound as if the move had not hurt him as much as his facial expression indicated. But even with that in mind, he still stopped for a few seconds and nodded.

"Not bad," he said while stroking his chin, "But not good enough, either. I'll admit, I detected so much more in you, more so than those other two, yet I'm a tad disappointed."

Vaporeon's eye twitched before she growled, "You want a challenge!? I'll give you a challenge!" racing toward him. And just as he was about to reach out and grab her, she dove under him and wrapped her tail around his ankles. She then yanked on them and caused the dragon to fall forward on his chin before she leapt onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

While this went on, the cages surrounding Zacian and Zamazenta's rings vanished while the citizens and remaining heroes watched. Rillaboom blinked and scratched her head, uttering, "That was quick," Scorbunny smirking and replying, "Damn. Those two must be amazing to have pulled that o-"

However, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped when she saw the wolves standing tall and proud and their opponents lying unconscious on the canvas. Sure, they had lost plenty of times before, but it had never been this bad.

Allie and Geneva stared in horror, the redhead racing toward Rolycoly while the tall girl headed toward Morgrem. They then stopped dead in their tracks only for Zacian and Zamazenta to nod their heads in approval. After all, they had no reason to forbid the humans from carrying their friends out of the ring.

And so, they picked up the heroes and noticed an ambulance nearby. It seemed as if someone had planned for this in advance, and this was just what they needed.

"Oh god," Drizzile uttered, "If they could deal that much damage in such a short time, I'm not sure if we're ready for this," Scorbunny whimpering, "I just hope Vaporeon's doing alright."

While Vaporeon pulled up on Eternatus' neck and legs, he stroked his chin and said, "Okay, that's a little better. But you seem to have missed one little detail," Vaporeon retorting, "And what would that be!?"

She would soon have her answer when the dragon spread out his skinny wings and exclaimed, "BONE SABERS!" scraping them against her back in an X formation. Thus blood spewed out before she screamed in agony and loosened her hold. This was just enough for Eternatus to wrap the wings around her and pry her off of him, tossing her into the air.

"I hate to end this so soon, but you're nothing but a warmup," he stated before soaring backwards into the ropes. He then leaned down and aimed his skull toward where Vaporeon was certain to land, launching himself forward and shouting, "ETERNABEAM!"

The energy that held his bones up soon expanded and covered his entire body, making him look like an actual beam of light. Sure enough, the fox could not do a thing when he rammed right into her back, blood flying from her mouth while her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

He then forced her up against the ropes and took hold of her wrists, pulling back on them and bending her back. As if that was not enough, the ropes caused her knees, midsection and face to cave him before her eyelids dropped and she blacked out.

With that, Eternatus released his hold and allowed her body to collapse before the cage around his ring vanished. Everyone stared in horror when they saw the condition Vaporeon was in. Even though Rolycoly and Morgrem's matches had ended badly for them, somehow this seemed even worse.

Drizzile tried his hardest to maintain the level of confidence he had built ever since his match with Runerigus. After all, he had become world champion. And yet just looking at the state of his friends caused a good portion of his old fear to return.

Nevertheless, these three could not be taken lightly. There was no doubt this would certainly be the hardest match they would ever partake in.


	45. Chapter 45

Drizzile, Rillaboom and Scorbunny could tell they were in for a world of trouble. Not only had all three of their allies lost easily, but they were in the worst condition they had ever been in after a match. Somehow, Vaporeon's bruises seemed far worse than when she had two holes in her shoulders. Morgrem had a huge wound on her upper back and the sharp part of her hair was gone. And Rolycoly's forehead had been cracked.

"Well, that was a decent warmup," Eternatus stated with his arms folded, "Now I believe it's time for the real match to begin."

"Speak for yourself," Zamazenta grunted, "This guy was a waste of time," Zacian sighing, "I didn't even break a sweat."

When Vaporeon was taken toward the ambulance, Drizzile bit his lower lip while Scorbunny and Rillaboom both stared in stunned silence. Eternatus saw this and sighed, "Don't worry. We have no intention of killing any of you. After all, if the three of you can defeat us, it would be a shame for those three not to enjoy living on a planet that we have chosen to spare."

All three felt a slight hint of relief from this, but even so, this still implied that there was a chance their world would be consumed if they lost. And right now, that was looking very likely.

Allie approached the group, looked into Drizzile's eyes with tears and sniffed, "Are you sure about this? These guys seem worse than Melmetal ever was," the chameleon sighing, "I know, but we have to. If we refuse, that's the same as losing. There's no way we're gonna let them destroy the world without a fight."

"Well put," Eternatus replied as Zamazenta and Zacian both folded their arms impatiently. Much like the dragon, they wanted to end this as soon as possible. After all, the hits they had taken in during their matches hardly made a difference, so they felt no need to rest up.

But just as Eternatus was ready to have the hole consume all six fighters, Scorbunny held out her hand and enquired, "Hey, before we go into this Eternal Vortex for our fight, can we just check up on our friends to make sure they're okay?"

Eternatus was about to consider granting her request before he noticed Rolycoly slowly open his eyes. If they talked to him, they could possibly get information regarding Zamazenta's fighting style. With that in mind, he narrowed his eyelids and retorted, "No. We've stalled this long enough." Thus he snapped his fingers and the hole started to pull in a big gust of wind.

Since his intention was only to fight the three remaining heroes, the wind only pick them up along with the dragon and his allies. And soon enough, all six had entered the black hole, everyone gazing up at the sky with wonder. Allie bit her lower lip and looked down only for Brian and Wendy to pat her reassuringly on the shoulder. They were sure the trio could win.

Drizzile tensed up when he saw just what kind of world they had been taken to. It was very similar to the realm Runerigus had fought him in, an empty void. But whereas the spirit's world was dark, this one was blood red with grey wavy lines all around various parts of the area. However, the most interesting detail was the ceiling, where eight small planets hung down from chains made from bones.

"Oh, I see you've noticed the decor," Eternatus stated, "Just so you know, those aren't fake. Those are the planets that the vortex has claimed. The three strongest warriors on each were unable to defeat us."

"Oh my god," Rillaboom uttered with a look of fear, "He's serious about all of this," Zamazenta remarking, "What, did you think he was making an empty threat? Did you seriously think we weren't gonna consume your planet if you lost?"

All three went silent and looked at one-another. Drizzile would have to ignore his fear and embrace the courage he had gained over his months as a hero. Rillaboom would need to depend on every ability she had learned and think more strategically than ever before. And Scorbunny would need to give more than one hundred percent. While they had dealt with many challenges before, there was no room for error this time.

With that in mind, all three gave the trio before them a serious look and nodded in understanding. Thus Eternatus said, "Excellent," and rose his arms up like a maestro conducting a symphony. This caused a ring to rise up in the middle of the floor, though since this was to be a three-on-three match, this particular ring was three times the size of a regular one, thus giving the fighters a great deal of room.

The dragon flapped his wings to propel himself into the air and landed firmly against the surface before Zacian and Zamazenta leapt up and joined him. After that, Rillaboom, Drizzile and Scorbunny all turned to one-another, nodded and followed suit. And when they landed against the ring's surface, they all struck a fighting pose.

Zacian blinked and groaned, "Dammit, we should have made a cool entrance too," Zamazenta grunting, "You know that's a waste of time when there's no audience to see it," Eternatus replying, "Indeed."

'Says you,' Rillaboom thought with a smile, 'These entrances help motivate us to fight harder. You'll soon see that when we wipe the canvas with your smug faces.'

With all said and done, Eternatus nodded at his allies, turned toward the heroes and said, "Well, that's enough stalling. Let us begin," and before the heroes could even have a chance to respond, Zacian and Zamazenta raced toward them.

The female wolf brought her sword to her mouth and placed the handle into it while a glow surrounded the male wolf's shield. And when both were close enough, they exclaimed, "BEHEMOTH BLADE EDGE!" racing right past the trio.

A big cut formed on each one's gut before they cried out in pain, blood spewing out of them while Zamazenta's shield had put a ton of bruises on them. Thus all three fell hard on their backs while Eternatus sighed, "Wow, it's over already. That was, well, really, really disappointing."

Zacian flipped her braids sideways and sighed, "What were you thinking, Eternatus? There had to have been better choices," Zamazenta groaning, "I actually feel like their planet isn't even worth-" only for his eyes to widen when he heard coughing behind him.

Sure enough, when both wolves turned around, all three heroes had risen to their feet, Drizzile barking, "OH MY GOD! THAT WAS TERRIFYING!" Scorbunny eyeing her wound while Rillaboom grunted, "Okay, yeah, you guys are as tough as we thought you were."

Eternatus nodded and said, "Well, good, you were able to handle Zacian and Zamazenta's strongest move. Perhaps you really are the worthy fighters I thought you were," only for Zacian to grunt, "Big deal. So you passed the first part of our test. It's not like you're the only ones who've done it."

Zamazenta took a deep breath and replied, "Still, Zacian, they got up more quickly than the most of the groups we struck with that. Maybe they'll actually last longer after all."

"Dammit," Rillaboom grunted, "They're treating this like a game," Scorbunny frowning and adding, "Well, that's fine by me. If they're not gonna take me seriously as an opponent, I'll give them a reason."

Drizzile nodded and said, "Let's give them a taste of that teamwork that beat Obstagoon. Now that I have fighting spirit, I'll actually be able to help this time."

With that in mind, all three decided it might be best to spread out and have each claim one target. Since Zamazenta looked to be the toughest, Rillaboom raced toward him while Drizzile headed toward Zacian. That left Scorbunny with Eternatus. After all, while he may have been the leader, he was also skinny, which by her logic must have made him the fastest and weakest.

Zamazenta prepared himself when Rillaboom got close and sent a punch toward her. Luckily, the gorilla saw this coming and dodged to the right. She then transformed her leaves into barrels and formed a hammerhead on her left hand. Afterwards, she swung it into his cheek and shouted, "WOOD HAMMER!"

She then got behind him and noticed how thin his neck was behind his mane. As such, she easily wrapped her arms around him and held him in a choke hold, forming thorns around her barrels and barking, "THORN BARREL CHOKE!" the male wolf gritting his teeth with a look of irritation.

All the while, when Drizzile got close to Zacian, she spun around and exclaimed, "FAIRY RIBBON WHIP!" spreading out her braids and swinging them toward the chameleon. However, while he was ultimately struck by one, it seemed as if he had pulled a strategy more similar to that of Rillaboom and allowed himself to take in the hit. This showed when he gripped onto the material and used it to fling himself toward Zacian.

Afterwards, he formed water around his hands and morphed it into a pair of daggers, shouting, "AQUATIC DAGGERS!" Zacian's eyes wide with shock when he slashed her back.

While this happened, Scorbunny charged at Eternatus who sent a karate chop toward her with his right arm. However, she easily saw this coming and dodged to the right before sending a roundhouse into his side. This caused him to shift sideways before she dashed to his left side and kicked that part. But just as she was about to deliver another strike from behind, her eyes widened when the dragon rose his wings and swung them downward.

"BONE SABERS!" he exclaimed when he scraped them up against her torso. As a result, blood flew from her while she cried out in agony.

Rillaboom heard this and turned with a gasp, allowing Zamazenta to shift his head forward and throw it backward into her cheek. This caused her to loosen her hold before he took hold of her fists and grunted, "Just so you know, that barely hurt at all!" hurling her over his shoulder and planting her back into the canvas.

Drizzile gasped and leapt toward Zamazenta to help out only for Zacian to wrap her right braid around him, lift him up and slam his face into the canvas. A smirk crossed her face as she stated, "I'm in the same boat. That wasn't bad, but it wasn't very effective either."

Just to prove what she said was true, she turned around and showed the chameleon the spot he had struck. While there was a slight cut there, it could barely be seen at all and there was no blood either. Although at least there was a small sign of pain, unlike Zamazenta who, despite having been stabbed by spikes, did not have so much as a spot on his neck.

Sure enough, things did not end there when Eternatus lifted up Scorbunny, Zacian held up Drizzile by the tail and Zamazenta helped Rillaboom back to her feet and wrapped his arms around her. The chameleon especially winced in pain when a pink glow covered Zacian's claws and she extended them, allowing her to pierce the spot she had picked up. Afterwards, all three leapt up into the air and flew toward one-another.

Eternatus shifted Scorbunny up over his head and took hold of her ankles, spreading her legs out in a splits formation. He then bent his wings inward and planted the tips into her ribcage before she gasped in pain.

Zacian, meanwhile, held aloft Drizzile above her head while Zamazenta rested Rillaboom against his chest and made sure he leapt higher than the others. Once all three villains were close to one-another, the heroes made contact with each other. Zacian, Zamazenta and Eternatus exclaimed, "SWORD SHIELD CROSSBOW SLAM!" when Scorbunny and Drizzile's skulls rammed into Rillaboom's gut, the force causing all three heroes to cough up blood.

But of course, it did not end there as the villains descended toward the canvas. Zamazenta flipped Rillaboom upside down and wrapped his legs around her neck, her skull hitting the canvas hard while Scorbunny and Drizzile's upper backs were slammed into it.

Once the heroes were released, their eyes and mouths were wide with terror while they lay on the canvas. Sure, this had not been enough to knock them out, but this made them even more alarmed than the opening move did. There was just no way they could win, not against foes this powerful.

Zacian turned to them and sighed, "Well, they lasted longer than expected. I guess that's something," Zamazenta grunting, "It doesn't matter. If this is the best they can do, this match is pretty much ours."

Eternatus said nothing and folded his arms. He had to admit, after how much potential he saw in the trio, this was disappointing to say the least. Although he could tell by looking at them they were still conscious, he could not help but feel like that one move might very well have broken their spirits.

And it seemed so when Rillaboom groaned, "Anyone get the number of that truck?" Scorbunny whimpering, "Oh my god. We don't stand a chance. We seriously don't stand a chance."

"I hate to say it, but you may be right," the gorilla sighed, "I know the match has only started, but our moves can barely do a thing to them. We can use the best tactics possible and beat away at them for all eternity and they'll still probably take us down in the end."

Drizzile simply lay there and gazed up at the ceiling of the world they were in. He watched the planets dangle in place with a look of anger in his eyes, his fists clenched. And all the while, Scorbunny uttered, "Well, they did say they have no intention of killing us. I guess maybe the best we can do is accept this loss so we can live to fight again."

"Wait, what?" Drizzile enquired, Rillaboom sighing, "I don't blame you, Drizzile. It's weird hearing Scorbunny of all people give up, but she may be right. I already feel as if I can't handle anymore."

"Oh my god," the chameleon retorted, "Are you guys serious? Did you already forget what's at stake? This isn't just about our pride or status. It's not a competition like the Olympics. It's not even about saving Edmonton."

The others went wide-eyed before Rillaboom uttered, "Oh, wow, I am so ashamed of myself right now," before placing a firm grip against the canvas and slowly pushing herself up. Zamazenta and Zacian both rose their eyebrows while Scorbunny followed suit, smirked and stated, "Of course. This is about the entire planet. If we lose, everyone loses."

Drizzile nodded and pushed himself up as well. A light smile crossed his face as he said, "Ever since we started down this path, we've dealt with a lot. This is clearly our greatest challenge yet, and if we fail, at the very least, we'll go down saying with the utmost honesty that we did our best."

Once all three heroes were back on their feet, they acted as if all the pain inflicted to them earlier meant nothing. As such, Eternatus nodded with a smile and said, "Well, well, well, you're still up. I'm impressed. You've survived two of our team moves. While quite a few have recovered from the Behemoth Blade Edge, not many can say they got up after taking in the Sword Shield Crossbow Slam."

Zamazenta smirked and said, "Indeed. Perhaps I was too quick to assume this would be a waste of our time. This might be the second time our opponents pass our little test," Rillaboom gasping, "Did you hear that!?"

"Hear what?" Scorbunny uttered only for Drizzile to grin and state, "Another trio has bested them in combat. That means it's possible for us to win, and honestly, that's good enough for me."

With that in mind, he formed water around his hands once more and morphed them into katana. Rillaboom followed suit by pounding her fists together while Scorbunny lit her feet on fire. The trio then proceeded to race toward the same opponents they faced before, Zacian placing her blade handle in her mouth and growling, "Something you should know is that I'm a master of sword play."

She then raced toward Drizzile and exclaimed, "BEHEMOTH BLADE!" only for the chameleon to leap over her just in time for her to run under him with her eyes wide open. And just before she could pass him, he held his blades down and scraped them against her back, shouting, "AQUATIC ASSASSINATION!"

Zamazenta, meanwhile, allowed Rillaboom to punch him hard in the face before he took hold of her wrist and said, "Like I said before, your strikes have barely done a thing to me."

However, this time the gorilla was prepared as she sent her hair lock forward and latched onto his snout. His eyes went wide with shock before she latched her arms around the back of his neck. She leapt off of the mat and wrapped her legs around him before spinning vertically multiple times.

When Zamazenta's skull hit the canvas, she barked, "VINE BOULDER SLAM!" and released her hold on him. It seemed as if she might have finally found a way around his amazing defence as not only had she slammed him hard, but she had also caused the material to sink in with his head stuck in it.

Scorbunny, all the while evaded multiple strikes from Eternatus. However, he soon caught onto her pattern and wrapped his right wing around her waist before he flung her toward the ropes. Fortunately, the rabbit hoped he would do that, and it was soon made clear why when she bounced off of them, pointed her foot toward his midsection and barked, "BURNING ROCKET!"

The dragon gasped when he took her heel to the exact spot she had aimed for and skidded sideways across the mat. And it was around this time that Zacian stood upright and felt her back. Once again, the wounds were not exactly deep, but they were much more noticeable.

Unfortunately, though, this was still far from over as Zamazenta placed his hands against the mat and pried his head out of the canvas. He then flipped himself backward and planted both feet into Rillaboom's shoulders. But just as he was about to take things a step further, she rose her arms and placed a firm grip against his ankles, swinging him around and flinging him toward the turnbuckle, the back of his head ramming into it.

Zacian gasped at the sight of this, Drizzile taking full advantage of this and leaping toward her. Before she could retaliate, he planted his katana into her shoulders, this time piercing her flesh before he propelled himself and her into the air and leaned backward. Sure enough, the back of her head hit the canvas hard while he shouted, "AQUATIC KATANA SUPLEX!"

Scorbunny, all the while, took full advantage of Eternatus' current state and leapt over his head and turned herself around. She then grabbed hold of the spikes on his head and rammed her heels into the back of his neck, shouting, "BUNNY BLAZE KICK!"

But just as it seemed like the heroes finally had the upper hand, Eternatus spread his legs out and prevented himself from falling forward. He took a deep breath and said, "Yes, this is interesting, very interesting. I definitely made the right call with the three of you. But while you may have passed the first three parts of our little test, you still haven't completed the whole thing."

With that, much like when Vaporeon was on his back, he folded his wings inward until they were pressed up against Scorbunny's. He then scraped them against her and shouted, "BONE SABERS!" causing her to cry out in pain and release her hold on him. This allowed him to wrap both wings around her before he rose the tips and took to the sky.

Seeing this, Zacian smirked and whipped her braids hard into Drizzile's gut, causing him to fly backward and inadvertently pry his blades out of the female wolf's shoulders. And surprisingly enough, even after driving them through her flesh, there was still no bloodshed.

But of course, he would have little time to think about this when Zacian lunged at him and exclaimed, "FAIRY RIBBON WHIP!" slapping him hard in the chest with her right braid. She then wrapped both of them around him and leaned backward, flinging him toward where Eternatus was flying.

Zamazenta, meanwhile, went down on all fours and said, "Still barely hurt," before he charged toward Rillaboom with a glow around his shield. Seeing this, the gorilla gasped and sharpened the spiky parts of her hair. She then curled up into a ball and rolled toward him, shouting, "ROSE BUSH BOULDER!"

"BEHEMOTH BASH!" Zamazenta roared before both moves connected. And while the gorilla had at least put up a good fight against Melmetal when she used this on him, this time she was easily overpowered, thus she instantly retracted from ball-like state and flew into the air, landing hard on her back.

"ETERNAL EAGLE CRASH!" Eternatus barked before ramming Scorbunny's skull hard into the airborne Drizzile's gut. As a result, both coughed up blood once more, the chameleon falling against the surface before the dragon dropped Scorbunny on top of him.

Eternatus then landed against the mat before Zacian and Zamazenta joined him and stated, "You seem to be able to stand up to us on our own, but can you deal with us when we're all together? After all, this is a team match and so far, only we have been using team moves."

Rillaboom rose to her feet and grunted, "I have to admit, that is a good point," Drizzile and Scorbunny both looking nervous. The chameleon blinked and uttered, "Wait, do we know any team moves?"

"Oh, shit," Scorbunny groaned, "We've spent the majority of our career fighting one-on-one. As such, we've put so much focus on our own skills and never thought of coming up with combo moves. Even when we fought Obstagoon, he was by himself, so we didn't even have a reason to come up with new moves. We've been together for so long and we don't know any team moves!"

After a few seconds, both wolves went down on all fours before Eternatus mounted himself onto their backs. He then spread his arms out and placed his wings against them, creating the shape of a crossbow while Zacian once again held her sword in her mouth.

When Rillaboom saw this, her eyes widened as she gasped, "Wait a minute! We do have one team move! We used a really awesome move to finish Obstagoon off!"

The other two nodded as the dragon sighed, "We've let you strategize long enough," a bright light surrounding Zacian's sword and Zamazenta's mane. With that, both wolves dashed forward while strawberry red light covered Eternatus, all three shouting, "ETERNAL BEHEMOTH CHARGE!"

With no other options, Drizzile leapt atop Rillaboom's shoulders and Scorbunny jumped onto his. The two shorter fighters then leaned forward before the rabbit took hold of the gorilla's ankles, all three rolling toward their opponents and barking, "TRI-ATTACK WHEEL!"

Soon enough, both trios clashed, beautiful sparks of pink and red light flying from them. But while the heroes lasted longer than Rillaboom did against Zamazenta's Behemoth Bash, they were still overpowered, thus they flew backwards and landed hard against the canvas.

But just as it seemed like their efforts were still in vain, Drizzile pushed himself upright, stared wide-eyed at his opponents and pointed, exclaiming, "Guys, look!"

As it so happened, the villains had taken in a bit of damage from their move. Sure, it was not much, but they had broken formation. Eternatus was now lying against the mat on his belly while the wolves seemed to have fallen on their sides. As if that was not enough, a light, barely noticeable scar had formed on each one's forehead.

While it was not a whole lot, it certainly gave the heroes a boost in confidence. Perhaps if they kept this up, they could win after all. But even so, the match had been very difficult up until now and they knew one hit like that would not be enough to end it.


	46. Chapter 46

While things had certainly started off horribly for Edmonton's heroes, it seemed as if they had truly made some progress. While they had taken in more damage, their last move showed better results than they expected.

Eternatus rose back to his feet and said, "Well, I have to admit, that wasn't bad," Zacian rubbing her forehead and growling, "Dammit, that actually kinda hurt."

Zamazenta folded his arms and scoffed, "Stop being such a baby, sis! I barely felt a thing," only for the female wolf and dragon to gaze at his scar, the male wolf shifting his eyes up toward it. And as soon as he saw it, he gritted his teeth while his eyes went wide.

He then rubbed his hands against it and spat, "WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM!?" Scorbunny smirking and remarking, "Now you can see that we're not to be taken lightly. You all acted so high and mighty before, but now we're showing some real progress!"

However, while the wolves had been annoyed at first, that negativity soon left them when Zacian snickered. That snicker grew into heavy laughter before she snapped, "Do you seriously think that alone is good enough!? So you put one scar on us! Have you seen your own bodies!?"

Rillaboom looked at her arms, torso and legs and soon realized what she meant. And it was not long until the others saw it too. While they had finally shown some real results, up to this point, they had taken in far more damage. If anything, it was a miracle they were still able to stand at this point.

"Look at you!" the female wolf spat tauntingly, "You act all high and mighty yet you've barely done a thing to us! All those hits you dealt were nothing but a minor inconvenience! On top of that, our team moves have proven to be much stronger than your one team move! Do you seriously think you have what it takes to beat us!?"

Zamazenta pinched his forehead and sighed, "Come on, try to be mature about this," folding his arms and adding, "Even if everything you just said is true," Eternatus saying nothing.

Rillaboom bit her lower lip only for Drizzile to rest his hand against her arm and shake his head with a stern look. They had come this far and, like he said before, they had no choice but to keep going. Even if they lost, the least they could do was try.

With that in mind, Rillaboom took a deep breath and grunted, "You know what? Maybe you're right, Zacian. Maybe we are in over our heads. But it doesn't matter, because we'll fight to the bitter end no matter what!"

"Well put," Eternatus replied before spreading out his wings and flying toward them, "Let's see you pull off more moves like that!"

Rillaboom watched him for a few seconds before gasping, "I have an idea!" turning to Scorbunny and enquiring, "Scorbunny, is it alright if I grab your ears?"

The rabbit bit her lower lip and pulled down on them before whimpering, "If it's to execute a plan, then okay," releasing them before Rillaboom grabbed hold of her and swung her like a flail. She then hurled her toward the incoming dragon as she gasped and understood perfectly what the gorilla was going for.

With that in mind, she lit both of her feet on fire and shouted, "SCORCHING MISSILE!" When her heels collided with the dragon's face, his eyes widened before he flew backwards. Both Zacian and Zamazenta leapt up and grabbed his arms just in time to stop him from flying further while Scorbunny landed on the canvas with a big grin on her face.

Drizzile smiled wide before nodding and saying, "I got something in mind as well," forming his big water gloves and adding, "Follow my lead."

Rillaboom nodded and raced forward with him only for Zacian and Zamazenta to charge at the duo. But just as they were about to strike them, Drizzile balanced himself on his tail and launched himself over Zacian's head. Rillaboom, meanwhile, allowed Zamazenta to ram his shoulder into her, and while this was stronger than a typical shoulder check, she ignored the pain and wrapped her arms around him, once again binding her vine to his neck.

She and Drizzile smiled at one-another and leapt into the air, the chameleon higher than the gorilla due to his and Zacian's lighter weight. He then flipped backward one hundred and eighty degrees and rammed the female wolf's skull into her brother's, he and Rillaboom shouting, "AQUATIC POWER SLAM!"

Both wolves went wide-eyed and gritted their teeth, Zacian in shock when she could have sworn she felt her blood rise up into her mouth. But even so, she managed to swallow it back down before Drizzile released her and allowed her to fall gracefully against the ring while she tried her hardest to make it look like that did not hurt.

Even Zamazenta with his superior defence had to admit that he felt the force of that blow. And things were about to get a lot better when Scorbunny delivered a flying kick to Eternatus' gut and latched her legs onto his neck, her feet once again aflame.

When Drizzile saw this, he gasped and raced toward her while the wolves were still distracted. He then leapt up, grabbed onto her shoulders and spat, "DOUBLE ASTEROID FRANKENSTEINER!"

Since he was the one applying all the pressure, Scorbunny did not use up any energy at all when she swung backwards and planted Eternatus' skull into the canvas. Needless to say, she could not have been more grateful for that, thus she beamed bright and squealed, "Thanks, Drizzile!"

Eternatus managed to pry his head out from between her legs and right himself up before saying, "Not bad. It seems the three of you have some really good chemistry after all. Still, I can tell this is your first time working as a team whereas we have had years of experience."

As such, he turned to the wolves who nodded and raced toward him. He then wrapped one of his wings around Zamazenta and held him up with his face pointed forward and used the other to take hold of Zacian. The female wolf placed her sword in her mouth, pointed it forward and allowed Eternatus to point her snout toward the ceiling.

The others stared at this while Drizzile uttered, "You know, at least they were being creative before. This just seems obvious and kind of abusive," Rillaboom grunting, "It doesn't matter. We need to be on our guard."

And this certainly seemed so when a bright light once again covered Zacian's blade and Zamazenta's mane had a rich glow around it. Eternatus then put on a more serious look and exclaimed, "BEHEMOTH SWORD AND SHIELD!"

All three heroes waited as he swung Zacian sideways. But when they leapt back to avoid her, their eyes widened when a powerful wave of energy shot from the blade and struck their midsections. This caused fairly sized cuts to form before Eternatus rammed Zamazenta into Rillaboom's gut.

The gorilla coughed up blood and fell hard on her back, Eternatus swinging Zacian downward and unleashing another wave of energy, this time at Scorbunny. She barely managed to dodge it only to fall victim to Zamazenta's face and fly into the turnbuckle.

Drizzile tensed up and gulped before forming water around his hands, thinking, 'Okay, I've only ever been able to make two copies of a single weapon before. I might need to think outside the box this time. Come on, Drizzile, you can do it!'

After a few seconds, he managed to form his katana in one hand, but while his plan was to form a glove in the other one, he once again wound up with another katana. And while this was disappointing, it would have to do, thus he took a deep breath and held up his weapons defensively.

Eternatus simply sent his weapons forward at once, and while the chameleon was able to block them, both wolves had already proven themselves stronger. As such, both blades broke into fairly big droplets before he took Zamazenta's face to his gut. Thus he met the same fate as his friends, Eternatus releasing his hold on the wolves.

"I guess it's time to end this after all," he stated, "Such a shame. You three were easily among the best opponents we've faced so far."

He then took to the sky and flipped himself upside down, planting his feet up against the ceiling. Zacian and Zamazenta simply folded their arms as they knew they had served their purpose. As far as they were concerned, there was no way the heroes would get up again, not from this.

Sure enough, all three were unable to get up in time when Eternatus launched himself toward them. The energy that allowed his bones to float in place covered his entire body before he rammed his skull hard into the part of the mat located between the heroes, shouting, "ETERNABEAM!"

A small explosion emitted from his face, thus resulting in all three heroes crying out in agony. While this had not dealt quite the same level of pain as it had dealt to Vaporeon since the hit was not dead on, it still seemed powerful enough to knock them unconscious when their eyes closed and they lay there with their arms and legs spread out.

Eternatus positioned himself upright and said, "Well, they may not have passed the test, but they came close," Zamazenta grunting, "I hate to admit it, but you're right. They actually managed to hurt me."

Zacian folded her arms and grumbled, "Not to mention that lizard avoided my Behemoth Blade and even managed to stab me," rubbing her shoulders, "Granted, that didn't hurt all that much, but still."

But just as all seemed lost, all three villains stared with their eyes wide open when Drizzile placed his hands firmly against the mat and slowly pushed himself up. He panted heavily as Zacian shook her head with her eyes wide open. Zamazenta's eye twitched while even Eternatus could not believe his eyes.

It was one thing for even so much as one of the heroes to rise up after all of that, but at the very least, they would have expected Rillaboom to be the one with a bit of strength left since she had the tougher body. But just as they were about to question this, Zacian noticed something off and gasped, "Wait, look! I don't think he's really conscious right now!"

Eternatus blinked before he noticed what she meant. Sure enough, Drizzile's eyes and ear holes were closed as he thought, 'Okay, they know about my reputation, but they don't seem to know a thing about my abilities. They were unprepared for my water techniques, after all. That means they shouldn't be prepared for this like Melmetal was.'

It seemed so when Zamazenta sighed, "So his body doesn't know it's too weak to fight. Oh well, want me to give him a gentle nudge?" Eternatus nodding and replying, "Yes. It breaks my heart to see him in this state."

With that in mind, the male wolf approached Drizzile and held his fist forward, lightly bumping it up against his chest. However, the chameleon did not even budge before he took hold of Zamazenta's wrist and twisted it.

Zamazenta's eyes widened when Drizzile lifted him over his head and slammed him on his back with a judo throw. Zacian and Eternatus both stared in shock at the sight of this while Drizzile formed his katana and planted them into wolf's mane, shouting, "AQUATIC KATANA SUPLEX!"

Just as the name implied, he used the blades to lift the wolf up, lean backwards and slam his skull into the canvas. With that, Eternatus blinked and uttered, "He's not unconscious at all. He's sleep fighting!"

Zacian turned to him and uttered, "Sleep fighting?" the dragon nodding and replying, "Indeed. It's a very rare talent, but there are a few heroes in history who have been able to do it. In fact, there was once a fox named Delphox who was able to do just that."

The female wolf stared at Drizzile with irritation and growled, "Fine! If he's gonna pull that sort of thing, I won't hold back!" whipping her braids toward him.

The chameleon easily detected this and leapt over the incoming strike. He then held out his katana and spread them out, allowing himself to descend. And once he was close enough, he managed to drive the blades through the tips of the braids, cutting them open before a small bit of blood flew out.

Zacian's eyes and mouth were wide with terror when she saw the parts that had been cut off fall against the canvas. But while she was mortified at first, that very quickly turned to anger, thus she gritted her teeth and fumed before barking, "OH, YOU'RE DEAD NOW!"

"Hold on, Zacian-" Eternatus protested only for her to go down on all fours and growl, "I won't actually kill him," placing her sword in her mouth, "But I'll make him wish he was dead."

She then charged at him just as Zamazenta finally got over his shock and rose to his feet. Drizzile could detect both of their movements, thus when Zacian got close to him, he leapt up over her, planted his blades into her back and exclaimed, "AQUATIC KATANA CURLING STONE!"

'Curling Stone?' Zacian thought, soon realizing what he meant when he shifted his blades sideways and pried them out of her back. This allowed her to lose her balance and roll right into Zamazenta's lower body, his eyes wide as he showed signs of true pain this time.

Sure, the heroes had done some damage to him, but his sister had a much more powerful body. As such, it only made sense that he could not ignore even a simple blow like this when she was involved. And when Eternatus saw this, he narrowed his eyelids and grunted, "I can see that I do indeed need to get involved."

As such, he spread out his wings, took to the sky and flew toward Drizzile with his claws pointed toward him. Once again, the chameleon waited until the last second before leaping over him, finally ditching the katana. He then lathered his feet in water to form blades on the soles and planted them into the dragon's back. After that, he allowed himself to slide along that very part and exclaimed, "AQUATIC ICE SKATES!"

Eternatus' eyes widened as he thought, 'Wait, this isn't sleep fighting. It's something much more advanced,' what looked like a mix of soot and oil seeping from his back after Drizzile leapt off of him. As such, even the dragon could no longer act so calm and collected.

But just as he was ready to try something else, he noticed Drizzile open his eyes and sigh, "And that's two minutes," before facing the villainous trio. Although at that moment, a look of horror formed when he peered past them and noticed his friends were still out cold.

Zacian rose to her feet and grunted, "Son of a bitch!" Zamazenta rubbing his knees and groaning, "You think you got it bad? Do you know how powerful your body is?"

"Are you calling me heavy!?" the female wolf retorted only for Eternatus to hold his hand toward them and bark, "Stop!" pointing at Drizzile and adding, "Priorities."

On one hand, Drizzile was certainly in better condition after not taking in damage for two minutes. But what mattered right now was that his eyes were open, Eternatus stating, "Whatever it was he did just now, it seems he can't do it anymore. That means we can end this."

With that in mind, the wolves nodded and stepped forward only for the dragon to hold his hand toward them again and state, "No. He cut open my back. If anyone's gonna finish him off, it's me."

"What!?" Zamazenta retorted, "Are you kidding!? What about-?" only for Eternatus to add, "Besides, he's by himself now. It would be unfair for all three of us to fight him."

Zacian bit her lower lip, not even wanting to point out that all three did attack him before. She knew Eternatus could defeat him anyway. After all, he was the only fighter she knew who was stronger than her and her brother.

With that, Eternatus flew backward into the ropes. He then pressed up against them, spread out his arms and folded his wings against them to resemble a crossbow once again. Drizzile frowned and thought, 'I doubt I can dodge that, even from here, at least not without my defence. There's only one way to overcome this. I just hope it works.'

As such, he propelled himself backward into the opposite ropes, the wolves staring while he lathered his entire body in water. He then morphed it into a bullet just in time for him and Eternatus to launch themselves off of the ropes, the dragon once again covered in his energy.

"ETERNABEAM!" Eternatus barked while Drizzile exclaimed, "SNIPE SHOT!" both colliding with one-another. Much like when the Tri-Attack Boulder struck the trio, sparks of light shot from both fighters. But despite Drizzile seeming to have stood a chance, Zacian and Zamazenta did not look the least bit worried.

"Eternatus may have taken in some damage there, but he's still the superior force," Zamazenta stated with a smirk, "Does that moron seriously think he can overpower him?" Zacian sighing, "Well, to be fair, all three of them are better than we thought."

Even so, it seemed that the male wolf was right when Drizzile's bullet popped like a bubble and the chameleon took the blow to his skull. Blood flew out while he flipped backward and landed on his upper back. Eternatus took a deep breath and watched him barely rise to his feet.

Drizzile breathed heavily while the dragon sighed, "It's impressive you're able to stand after taking that in for a second time, let alone the first time. No one's ever been able to stand up to that. But let's see if you can handle one more," once again flying backwards into the ropes.

Even though he knew this would not work, Drizzile had no other options. Eternatus was simply too fast when he used Eternabeam. But when he leapt backward and once again covered his hands in water, he noticed Rillaboom's fingers twitch and Scorbunny's foot shift backwards.

With that in mind, he breathed a sigh of relief and thought, 'Well, at least I stalled them long enough,' before lathering himself and forming the bullet once again.

Both fighters launched themselves toward each other, Eternatus shouting, "ETERNABEAM!" and Drizzile barking, "SNIPE SHOT!"

However, at that exact moment, both of the chameleon's friends opened their eyes and gasped. Zacian and Zamazenta turned and stared at them in stunned silence when they reached their arms up. And by some miracle, they had done this just in time to grab hold of Eternatus, both of them now flying with him while Zacian uttered, "Are they insane?"

But while this would have been crazy under any other circumstances, Drizzile had caused the dragon to lose some of his life essence. As a result, he actually started to feel a little weak and the energy that surrounded him began to fade. As such, when Drizzile struck him with his water bullet, the dragon coughed up the same substance that had escaped his back as the chameleon coughed up a bit of blood.

Thus Drizzile landed on his feet and breathed heavily, Rillaboom and Scorbunny giving their friend a big smile. The rabbit then nodded at Rillaboom and released her hold on Eternatus, allowing the gorilla to wrap her arms around him, lean backward and slam his cheek into the canvas.

Zacian and Zamazenta stared at this in horror before the male wolf uttered, "Who are these guys?" before Zacian grunted, "At first, I didn't understand what Eternatus saw in them, but they really are incredible. Even after all the torment we put them through, they not only continue to fight but they've even managed to legitimately wound us. Even those three who beat us on Hero Planet weren't this tough."

Drizzile smiled when his friends ran to his side, Scorbunny grinning and asking, "So, how long were we out for?" the chameleon replying, "About three minutes, maybe a bit more than that."

"And yet you lasted that long without us," Rillaboom chuckled, "You really are the world champion," the chameleon sighing, "Well, I did have to use up the time for my family defence to pull it off. But you know what? I think we can really do this now. It's been up and down up to this point, but I truly believe we can defeat them."

Zacian and Zamazenta went down on all fours before the female wolf growled, "I'd like to see you try! A few lucky hits won't win you this match!" And after she placed her sword handle in her mouth, she and her brother raced toward them and grunted, "BEHEMOTH BLADE EDGE!"

Rillaboom could see that much like Eternatus, their injuries seemed to slow them down, even if just a little bit. As such, she instinctively took hold of Scorbunny and Drizzile and tossed them into the air. She then turned her back to them and sharpened her hair, grunting, "ROSE BUSH CATAPULT!" swinging it backward into the wolves.

Deep down, she knew this would not stop them for long, and the others realized this as well. As such, Scorbunny spread out her legs after Drizzile formed his gloves and placed them against her shoulders to speed up her descent. Sure enough, both of her feet landed hard against the wolves' backs before she squealed, "SCORCHING MALLET!"

Even though she only used one foot on each of them, this distracted Zacian and Zamazenta just long enough for Rillaboom to fling them away from her. This left them wide open for Drizzile to lift up Scorbunny and hurl her toward Zacian while her feet caught flame and she barked, "SCORCHING MISSILE!" planting both heels into the female wolf's back.

Drizzile would not allow her to be the only one, thus he leapt at Zamazenta with his gloves still around his hands, took hold of him and flipped him upside down, driving his skull into the canvas yet again.

Of course, Rillaboom would not allow them to hog all the glory. Thus when she saw Eternatus rise to his feet, she curled up into a ball and rolled toward him, barking, "ROSE BUSH BOULDER!" ramming herself hard into him and sending him tumbling along the mat.

"Man, that felt good!" she exclaimed after she retracted out of her ball-like state, the others leaping back to her side with big grins on their faces.

But while things truly looked up, the match was still far from over. This showed when all three villains rose back to their feet and breathed heavily, Zacian's eyes and mouth wide with terror while she uttered, "Oh my god. I'm breathing through my mouth. I'm actually breathing through my mouth."

"I know," Zamazenta grunted, "I wanted a real challenge, but these guys are on a whole new level. They're not even that special," Eternatus thinking, 'That's because there's more to it than that. Yes, these three meet the exact criteria I've been looking for, even more so than the three who defeated us before. But there's only one true way to be certain, the final part of the test.'

With that in mind, the dragon flew over to his companions and gave them all a serious look. The wolves knew exactly what he had in mind, thus she put on a stern look and nodded.

"You've done well to make it this far, but let's see if you can stand up to this a second time!" Eternatus stated before Zacian and Zamazenta went down on all fours. The dragon then mounted himself on their backs, spread out his arms and latched onto his own wrists with his wings.

As soon as the heroes saw this, they knew exactly what was coming. While they had done a good job resisting this before, could they really stand up to this a second time, let alone possibly overpower it?


	47. Chapter 47

After the longest match Rillaboom, Scorbunny and Drizzile had ever fought, it seemed as if they were finally down to the home stretch. Eternatus, Zacian and Zamazenta had set up one of their most powerful moves, and while this failed to defeat the heroes before, there was still a chance it could finish them off.

Rillaboom gulped nervously and uttered, "Well, I don't see any other options. There's no way we can just dodge this," Drizzile nodding and replying, "I'm certain it'll work this time. Even though they've dominated us with these types of moves so far, I have a funny feeling we can overcome them this time."

Scorbunny nodded and stated, "And even if we don't, well, it was great fighting alongside you guys. I'm so happy I met all of you. I can't think of a better pair of people to go down with."

With that in mind, Drizzile leapt onto Rillaboom's shoulders before Scorbunny jumped onto the chameleon's. A bright light covered Zacian's sword, Zamazenta's shield and Eternatus' entire body. And when the heroes saw this, they suddenly realized something they could do to make their move stronger.

"Oh god, why didn't I think of this sooner?" Rillaboom grunted before she sharpened her hair. Drizzile nodded and sighed, "It really should have been obvious," lathering his body in water while Scorbunny made sure he did not drop her after releasing her feet. Scorbunny of course added to this when she lit her feet on fire, Drizzile's water suit allowing him to handle it.

Eternatus and his allies all raced toward the heroic trio and shouted, "ETERNAL BEHEMOTH CHARGE!" Drizzile and Scorbunny leaning forward until the rabbit was touching Rillaboom's ankles.

All three rolled toward their opponents with their elements now sure to make them stronger. And when they clashed with the villainous trio, they exclaimed, "TRI-ATTACK WHEEL!"

Much like before, sparks of light flew from the two teams. However, these ones were much bigger and more intense. As if that was not enough, Zacian's eyes widened when she noticed her movement start to slow down, Zamazenta grunting, "Come on! Pick up the pace!"

Thus all three started to run more quickly while Rillaboom cried, "Don't you dare let up, guys!" the others grinning and retorting, "As if!"

After a few seconds, Zacian, Zamazenta and Eternatus' foreheads all came open. Blood squirted out of the wolves as the dragon's odd mix of soot and black blood flew out of him. And all it took was another little while for all three to cough up the substances and rise upright before flying backwards.

The villainous trio fell hard on their backs and slid against the canvas while the heroes retracted back to their normal states. While the villains' attack had put a few bruises on them, they all still managed to stand while they released deep breaths.

"Did we do it?" Drizzile uttered, Scorbunny and Rillaboom examining their opponents. However, all three trembled when Eternatus placed his hand against the mat and pushed himself up, the wolves following suit.

But just as the heroes frowned and struck a fighting pose, Eternatus held out his hand and exclaimed, "Relax!" before holding up both hands and sighing, "I give up."

He then nodded at Zacian and Zamazenta, and while a part of them hated to do this, they fell to their knees, bowed their heads and added, "Though it pains us deeply to say this, we concede this victory to you."

Scorbunny's jaw dropped while Rillaboom rubbed her finger in her ear and asked, "Did I hear that right?" Drizzile gazing upon their opponents and uttering, "Yeah. They just surrendered."

With that in mind, all three turned to one-another, smiled wide and held each other in a tight embrace. Joyous laughter filled the air while Eternatus smiled at them, Zacian and Zamazenta forming light grins of their own. As humiliating as this was, it seemed as if this was the result they had wanted, but why?

"Excellent work," Eternatus stated, "You have all passed our test," Scorbunny retorting, "Damn right we did! Now you won't have to destroy our planet!"

"Oh yes, about that," the dragon replied before he cleared his throat, "We actually had no intention of consuming Earth," the others staring blankly, "I mean, look at this place. Do you seriously think a whole planet could fit in here?"

Drizzile looked up at the ceiling, pointed at the planets hanging from it and uttered, "But what about-?" Zacian uttering, "Um, yeah, just so you know, those are just models. See, whenever a trio loses to us, we create a scale model of the planet to remind us to come back and test them again later."

"Yeah, sorry, we lied," Eternatus stated while the heroes all stared in stunned silence, their eyes twitching and their jaws dropped. The dragon took a deep breath and said, "I guess a simple apology doesn't make up for what we put you through, does it?"

"You think!?" Rillaboom retorted, "Seriously, that was the most hectic match we've ever had! We honestly thought everyone was gonna die!"

"Yes, but if we didn't stir that fear in you, would you have fought nearly as well as you did today?" Eternatus enquired, the heroes all staring while he sighed, "Yes, I suppose there is a lot of unpack. See, we come from a long line of gods. In truth, you never really could have defeated us. Technically, only another god could."

Zamazenta sighed, "Yeah, as much as we hate doing it, we deliberately held back so all three of you would stand a fighting chance. The truth is, you only fought us at half our power. If we had used our full strength, you all would have died in seconds."

"Wait, so if our test wasn't to best you in combat, what was it?" Drizzile remarked before Eternatus explained, "You see, when a planet that's repeatedly in danger is somehow able to last a really long time without evil consuming it, we come to that planet and challenge the three fighters with the most potential to face us in combat. In fact, prior to coming here, we made a stop on Hero Planet to challenge the three with the most potential there. The test comes in five phases, and a trio can only truly win if they can surpass all five of them."

Looking up at the ceiling and noticing that Hero Planet was not up there, Drizzile nodded and stated, "Figures people from there would be able to pull that off," the dragon nodding and replying, "Oh, yes. They were just as incredible as legends whose job is to teach a new generation should be."

They remembered how the three in question who had faced them were Shaymin, a white cockroach named Pheromosa and a buff red mosquito named Buzzwole. While they did struggle much like Rillaboom, Scorbunny and Drizzile, all three proved to be incredible fighters despite their age.

Shaymin unleashed all sorts of techniques, weakening Eternatus when she curled up into a ball and allowed Buzzwole to use Pheromosa like a cricket bat and smack her toward them. She then released razor sharp thorns from her back and rammed them into the dragon, calling the move Thorny Hedge.

Then with Zacian and Zamazenta still standing, Buzzwole and Pheromosa flew toward them and set them up for their strongest move, Lover's Flying Slam. This involved Buzzwole carrying Zamazenta high above the ring while pulling back on his arms while Pheromosa wrapped her legs around Zacian, performed a handstand and leapt high into the air. This was followed by the mosquito planting the male wolf's skull into his sister's gut, thus spelling the first time they ever coughed up blood in a match.

Back in present time, Zacian smirked and said, "Well, they technically passed the last part," Eternatus nodding and stating, "Anyway, I suppose you're all probably wondering what the phases of the test were. See, phase one was to test your resistance to pain. If you could get up after taking in Behemoth Blade Edge, then there's no doubt facing you is certainly worth our time."

Rillaboom blinked while the others nodded in understanding, Drizzile uttering, "Even at half strength, it does feel like a miracle that we got up after that."

"The second phase was a test of your resolve," Eternatus continued, "That move you took in from all three of us usually breaks the spirit of anyone who makes it past the first phase. I noticed it almost did, but you still got up and continued despite how much pain you took in."

Zacian nodded and added, "The third phase, though this one is more optional, was to see just how well you could all perform against one of us at a time. Each of you did an impressive job keeping up against us when you were alone. Again, this one's not mandatory since most heroes are already fairly good by themselves, but it's still necessary at times."

Zamazenta then explained, "The forth phase is the second-most important step of all, and that's how well the three of you fight as a team. It seems each of you have never fought in a proper team match up until now, but despite that, you all did a very good job, proving your camaraderie in a dire situation."

"And the fifth and final step was to see if you could truly overpower all three of us, draw an impressive amount of blood or a mix of both," Eternatus stated, "And you managed to do both. The last three didn't quite pull off the first option, but they still managed to draw blood."

Rillaboom blinked, Scorbunny starting to understand and Drizzile nodding while the dragon said, "So this wasn't merely a test of strength. This was a test to see just how well the three of you work as a team. See, we imagine there might be a time when a trio like you will need that level of camaraderie, resolve, intuitiveness and spirit in a much more serious situation. It's why we put all this pressure on you. In fact, we even told the staff of Hero Planet not to inform you about us otherwise you could have planned for our coming in advance and gotten an unfair advantage."

"Oh, okay, that makes sense," Scorbunny replied only for Rillaboom to bark, "What do you mean we'll need this in the future!?" Eternatus sighing, "Well, planets that last this long are destined to face bigger and bigger threats all the time. Having power is one thing, but having amazing teamwork is another and it can help during the most dangerous of circumstances."

Rillaboom nodded before she enquired, "But wait, if that's the case, why specifically did you choose us?" Drizzile sighing, "Yeah, I hate to say it, but I'm not sure if we're really the best choices. If we were one team out of, say, a whole bunch, that would make sense, but why just us?"

Scorbunny bit her lower lip and whimpered, "I'm fast, but I'm sure there are faster fighters out there with better skills," Rillaboom adding, "And I may be strong and smart, but, well, I faced someone who was better in both those departments quite some time ago."

"And just because I'm the world champion doesn't mean I'm instantly the greatest fighter in the world," Drizzile stated, Zacian nodding and replying, "Yes, and we're not exactly the strongest gods in the universe. There are plenty out there who could probably best us even if we were to face them at full strength."

"Again, we didn't choose you based off of your power, impressive as it is," Eternatus explained, "We chose you because of how much we could tell that you get along, how well you work together. Such a bond is very rarely seen, especially in this day and age."

"Well, your reputation definitely helps," Zacian replied, "Shaymin told us all about how much the three of you had improved since you joined the side of good. You seemed like the best choice for us," Zamazenta nodding in agreement.

All three heroes stared while their eyes sparkled. They never would have expected that their friendship would be this important in the grand scheme of things. But either way, this was truly something they would remember for years to come.

With all said and done, Eternatus opened up the floor and all six emerged from the big black hole in the sky. Everyone watched, Allie gasping when she saw her friends alive and well. Thus she smiled wide and released tears, Brian and Wendy resting their hands on her shoulders. Although deep down, they hoped this meant what they thought it did, and it seemed to when after landing, Eternatus held his hand up in a grabbing motion in order to seal up the hole.

When the sky returned to its normal colour, the dragon stated, "Attention, citizens of Edmonton! You are all safe! Your heroes have bested us in combat!"

The citizens all stared in stunned silence before big smiles formed on their faces. They then rose their arms in the air and cheered, the news crew breathing a simultaneous sigh of relief. The heroes, meanwhile, gave the dragon a look of confusion only for him to hold his finger up to his mouth. After all, if the citizens knew there was no danger to begin with, this moment likely would have meant less to them.

However, all three were surprised when Vaporeon of all people leapt toward them and held their necks in a tight embrace. She let down tears and squealed, "OH MY GOD, YOU DID IT! YOU ACTUALLY WON!"

"How are you still-?" Rillaboom uttered before remembering what Eternatus had explained. As such, it all made sense. Despite the big injuries, the dragon and his allies must have held back to make sure the heroes were not crippled.

It seemed so when Morgrem and Rolycoly approached them as well. Sure, the goblin's hair was still much shorter than before and the golem had a slight chip in his head, but none of this was fatal. All that mattered was that they were up and about.

"Hey, Zacian, don't you think you went a little overboard?" Zamazenta whispered while pointing at Morgrem's hair, the female wolf grinning nervously and replying, "I didn't mean to do that, honest."

Morgrem and Rolycoly joined in with the hug, the golem sighing, "Wow, you guys really are something else. I knew you were amazing, but I'll admit, I had my doubts this time," Morgrem chuckling, "Yeah. Even I wasn't sure if we were truly safe, no offence."

Allie chuckled, "Well, I had my doubts too, but I knew things would turn out for the best," kissing Drizzile on the cheek while Geneva and Bailey nodded with a big smile.

At that moment, Eternatus bowed his head to the heroes and said, "Congratulations on your victory. You have displayed incredible skill and power. Therefor your planet has been spared," before winking at them and fibbing, "Oh yes, and all the other planets we have taken have been returned to where they once were."

All three grinned nervously before Rillaboom whispered, "We can at least tell our friends the truth, right?" Eternatus nodding and replying, "As long as you can trust them to keep our secret, or not. Honestly, it doesn't matter what you choose to do in the long run."

And so, a great energy surrounded him as he rose up into the air. He then lifted Zacian and Zamazenta with him while both bowed their heads in respect. All three proceeded to fly off into space in search of the next planet that needed to be tested while everyone watched in amazement.

With all said and done, Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Drizzile fell to their knees before Allie, Bailey and Geneva put their coats back on them. The tall girl then breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "What say we head inside? We'll catch our death of cold if we spend anymore time out here," Scorbunny sighing, "Yeah, that sounds nice."

And so, everyone headed back home with plans to meet up later for a celebratory dinner. Right now, all the heroes wanted to do was rest up after such an intense match. Of course, Eternatus' would always stick with them, but they would worry about that when the time came. For now, they could take pride in knowing that they had technically won what was likely the hardest battle they would ever partake in.

Once dinner rolled around, Brian and Wendy had dropped off all nine friends at a fancy Chinese restaurant. The others had no problem with them joining in, but the parents decided to let the teens have their time together. Allie figured they had other intentions, but she was fine with this.

And soon enough, all of them were seated on a round table with a wide assortment of food before them as they raised their glasses and shouted, "TO VICTORY!" clinking them together.

They all took a sip of their beverages before letting out a sigh, Bailey saying, "I really wish I could have seen all of that. I mean, it is a little disappointing knowing you didn't really save the planet, but still, they seemed really tough."

"They were," Morgrem groaned, touching the back of her neck before Rolycoly patted her on the shoulder and directed her attention to his chip, which seemed like it might be permanent.

"Well, what matters is that we're all in good health," Allie said with a big smile and her arm resting on Drizzile's shoulder, "But seriously, I was so scared during all of that. I knew things would turn out well, but there was this part of me thinking this might very well be the last day I'd ever see you."

"Hey, we're not going anywhere!" Rillaboom retorted with a smirk, "Not only are we awesome, but we got great friends to make us even more awesome!" Scorbunny chuckling, "Wow, that was even cheesier than what I was gonna say."

Vaporeon giggled and sighed, "I'm just so impressed with you all. Seriously, to think you all lost so easily and me and my friends," Drizzile uttering, "Yeah, no kidding."

The fox wanted to say something else but ultimately decided not to. After all, she knew that it would spoil the mood, thus she smiled and said, "Well, what say we dig in? No sense letting all this food go to waste."

And so, all nine friends nodded and ate happily. The day had started off dark and scary but had ended perfectly.

Although deep down, the trio would not forget what Eternatus had told them. They knew someday they would need to use their teamwork skills again, though for what purpose, no one could say. But regardless of what sorts of challenges awaited them in the future, they knew they were ready for whatever life had to throw at them.

To be continued.

Note: Just so you know, this will be the final chapter of this particular part of the story, but only because I plan on doing something very similar to what I did with the first Earth's Protectors. For those unaware, I essentially made the final story arc its own separate story, a direct sequel if you will. (Much like what Kinnikuman does with its continuations) Though whereas that was initially unplanned the first time I did it, this on the other hand has been my plan from the start. So for anyone who wants to see where this goes, be on the lookout for part two coming soon.


End file.
